New chief of gate guards arrives from Fort Carson

The reason that Redstone’s new chief of gate guards moved from Colorado to Alabama wasn’t the lower cost of living. It was family.

“That’s the whole reason I took this job down here. It’s to be closer to my family and grandson,” Jonathan Arcand, chief of guards under the Garrison’s Directorate of Emergency Services since Dec. 3, said.

Arcand served as deputy chief of security at Fort Carson, Colorado, since June 2022. Now he has family members within two hours in Tennessee. Arcand succeeded retired chief Ralph Jefferson.

“I am excited to be here,” he said. “And I look forward to working with not only the tenants but the community as a whole to maintain the high level of security and protection of the Redstone family.”

The retired sergeant first class was an armor crewman from 1995-99 before going to military police school at Fort McClellan in 1999. He was an MP until retiring in 2015 out of Korea after 20 years of service. His 24 years in law enforcement have included nine years as a corrections NCO at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from 2000-09.

Arcand, 47, from Ellington, Connecticut, spent a year in Iraq (2007-08) and a year in Afghanistan (2010-11). He leads a 43-member guard force.

“My goals are to maintain the high standards and the rapport with the community,” he said.

The New Market resident and his wife of 12 years, Cheryl, have daughters Ashlee of Burns, Tennessee, Tifani Dye of Kansas City and Izak of Kingston, Tennessee. Izak’s son, Eligah, is 4.

Arcand’s hobbies include Three Gun competition, catfishing, and spending time with family. The soccer fan roots for Arsenal in the Premier League.

“I’m just glad to be here,” he said. “It’s going to be a challenge.”