Course for retiring soldiers is not the first offering direction to anyone going on a journey perhaps (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
road sign
'course for retiring soldiers is not the first' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'direction to anyone going on a journey perhaps' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'direction' could be 'sign' (sign is a kind of direction) and 'sign' is present in the answer.
'a' is within the answer.
The remaining letters 'rod' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
'offering' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for road sign that I've seen before include "Aid to motorists" , "Perhaps stop" , "Notice for drivers" , "Bearer of warning" , "Roundabout ahead or T-junction, say" .)