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SCMP Reporter

GOVERNOR Chris Patten has appointed the former head of the Special Duties Unit as his aide-de-camp.

  Superintendent Lance Brown, who commanded the Flying Tigers, the elite brigade best known for their counter-terrorism work, is receiving an induction in the post.

  He will officially become aide-de-camp on September 10.

  Mr Brown was picked by Mr Patten from a shortlist put forward by Commissioner Eddie Hui Ki-on.

  However, Mr Brown does not believe his background - nor the prospect of greater tension in the lead up to the change of sovereignty in 1997 - played any role in his selection.

  'My job is very much to smooth the Governor's way through things,' said Mr Brown.

  'The political and social considerations are not directly relevant to the job so I don't think my past is really a consideration.'   Apart from the aide-de-camp, who supervises protocol, public visits and greeting heads of state and dignitaries, Mr Patten has bodyguards on his staff, recruited from the force's VIP Protection Unit.

  Mr Brown, 42, has nearly 16 years' police service, almost all of it spent with the Flying Tigers.

  He said he was delighted to have been selected, especially as the appointment affords him such a unique historical perspective. 'There is no doubt that it was part of this job's attraction,' he said in reference to being the last aide-de-camp of colonial rule.

  'Apart from the fact it is an extremely interesting job, that I will be the last is also an influence.

  'It will be a fascinating time in history.'   It is likely the post, a relic of Napoleonic days when military officials had confidential secretaries, will be scrapped in the Special Administrative Region after 1997 given its colonial overtures.

  Mr Brown's appointment expires on June 30, 1997.



Patten picks top policeman as aide