Poett eventually finished as Bethell's ADC and returned to his battalion, but not for long; he was then transferred to General Bethell's staff as a General Staff Officer 3rd Grade. This meant increased pay for Poett, as well as experience as a staff officer; he served under William Gott, then Bethell's General Staff Officer 2nd Grade, a future lieutenant general and intended commander of the British Eighth Army before he was killed in 1942. Poett returned to his battalion after a period as General Staff Officer, and then spent some time in Britain on leave. When he returned in 1934 he was trained on the Vickers machine gun, and then gazetted as the battalion's next adjutant. Poett took another period of leave to visit his brother-in-law in Australia, and during the journey met and fell in love with his future wife, Julia, on the ship from Bombay to Calcutta. After a brief time together in Australia with Julia, Poett returned to Bombay to act as battalion adjutant. At the end of 1935 the battalion was transferred to the Sudan, taking up station near the city of Khartoum. During the battalion's transfer, as well as for some time afterwards, Poett studied for the entrance exam at the British Army's Staff College. Although he passed the exams, he was unable to get a vacancy and eventually gave up. Then in April 1937, Poett took leave to the city of Wellington in New Zealand, where he married Julia on 26 May 1937. The next month the married couple moved to Britain, with Poett resuming his duties as battalion adjutant in Woking, where the battalion had recently been transferred.