The new President of the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, Andrew Gregson spoke of his previous life in the 1st Battalion Scots Guard, a division of the British Armed Forces.

He joined when he was 16 and was trained both in foot drills (the marching and public presentation) and as a soldier.  Though he guarded castles in England including Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London and performed in many ceremonial duties he was also deployed in the Gulf war. He said their creed was “Soldier’s first.”

He regaled us with stories from his experiences in the public sector.  He explained the guards with their familiar “bearskin” hats are on shift for 2 hours at a time when on this duty.  The small sentry post (pictured)  is only used if there is heavy rain and for an emergency.  There is a button on the inside wall that will bring 25 armed guards immediately to the area.

He also showed a short video about the locking up at night of the crown jewels, at 9:53pm, the same time for the last 600 years!

After regaling us with all the pomp and circumstance of the English Military, one of the questions that arose was how did he end up in the U.S. Apparently family built racing Jaguars and asked him to build sales in the U.S.

For more information about Andrew follow this Arcadia Chamber of Commerce  installation link.