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Two senior soldiers retire from the Regiment
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Coming only days after Pte Santos won the Willie Thomson key as Best TA Recruit, two of the Regiment?s longest-serving ex-TA soldiers are about to retire.
Major Wilfred Jurado and WO2 Gary Christie both joined the Gibraltar Regiment (as it then was) in 1974 and both began their careers as TA soldiers.
Much to his father?s disapproval, Major Jurado first joined as a Gunner in the TA and then switched to being an Orderly Room clerk in the Regulars. ?My father hated me joining the Regiment as a Private Soldier,? said Wilfred. ?I was a Lance Corporal when he died and I feel I have dedicated the rest of my career to him?
Wilfred has seen huge changes in his time in the Army. ?I always seem to have been dealing with changes,? said Wilfred. ?I was dual-roled as a Gunnery Instructor and an Orderly Room clerk when we changed from being Gunners to Infantry in 1990/91 and I was a Warrant Officer when we moved from Lathbury Barracks to Devil?s Tower Camp.? Even when he was posted to Bosnia as a Quartermaster, he spent much of his time taking over NATO stores and bringing them under British control.
But the Regiment today is a very different unit from the one Wilfred joined in 1974. ?In those days, we were a very small unit and everyone knew each other and we were very family-orientated,? he said. Then we were ?Jacks of all trades? and we worked hard. I have a lot of good memories to cherish. But nowadays we are a thousand times more professional. It makes me proud that we are now on a par with anyone in the British Army.?
Wilfred will leave the Army in November, having worked his way up from Private to Major ? a fact that he is justly proud of. ?I sometimes regretted leaving school so early but my fast-track career has been the highlight of my time with the Regiment.?
Also about to leave the Regiment is WO2 Gary Christie, the Regimental Catering Warrant Officer who also joined up in 1974. ?My first six years were spent in the TA and then in 1980, as a Regular, I became a chef at the old Officers? Mess at Buena Vista, said Gary. ?And after a spell at Lathbury Barracks, I went to the Convent to be the chef for the Governor, Sir John Chapple.?
?During my time there I cooked for lots of VIP visitors, including Prince Andrew, Geoff Hoon (Secretary of State for Defence), Betty Boothroyd (Speaker of the House of Commons) and many others.?
Gary then spent time in postings to Regiments on Salisbury Plain and in Northern Ireland before being selected for the Master Chef?s course in Aldershot. After returning to the Regiment, he masterminded the move into the new kitchen complex at Devils Tower Camp, he took part in exercises in Morocco, Cyprus and UK and he completed an operational tour in the Balkans.
?I have enjoyed the whole job and I?ve been proud to spend my whole working life in the Army,? said Gary. I?ve had many highlights. I?ve met many dignitaries and I?ve planned functions for a wide range of VIPs.?
?I?ve seen the Regiment through the eyes of a 17 year-old and I?ve seen it through the eyes of a 51 year-old,? he added. ?The Regiment today is more professional, more fulfilling and it has more opportunities for its soldiers.?
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