Honor guard transitions to new funeral guidelines

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Ben Gonzales
  • Air Force News Agency
ARLINGTON, Va. (AFPN) --  Beginning Nov. 1, honor guard teams across the Air Force will support retiree funeral missions with seven members for standard funerals nationwide.

While funerals at Arlington National Cemetery will continue to receive military honors supported by Air Force Honor Guard Airmen, funerals for retirees outside the national cemetery will be composed of a team of honor guardsmen made up of three less members due to manning restrictions Air Force wide.

The formal 10-person funeral will no longer be authorized for retiree funerals. The detail will now consist of seven people to carry out the job as pall bearers, flag folders, flag presenter, bugler, spare and firing party. The new funeral sequence will have three major differences: The NCO in charge of pall bearers will also be the NCO in charge of the funeral, the number of firing party members will be reduced to three, and a spare position will be added.

The change should help alleviate manning cuts at Air Force bases and the Air Force Honor Guard. Located at Bolling Air Force Base, D.C., the Air Force Honor Guard has reduced its numbers from 271 guardsmen to 231 members in just one year, and must shrink to only 212 members by 2011.

Standardizing the funeral support was crucial with the number of missions required today and in the future.

"Veterans Department officials predict that World War II and Korean War veterans (needing funeral support) will continue to grow through 2012," said Lt. Col. Anthony Taylor, the Air Force Honor Guard commander. "The change allows base honor guards to adapt to manning constraints while being able to render military honors. Plus, with the new standard, all of the ceremonies will be done in the same professional manner, and bases can request the Air Force Honor Guard for expertise."
Additional performances such as retirements, ceremonies, promotions and special events require honor guard members, which push honor guardsmen to the limit.

"We are engaged in eight to 12 events a day," said Senior Airman Chris Cenatiempo, a ceremonial guardsman from the Firing Party Flight. The St. Louis native joined the Air Force a month after high school and has served with the Air Force Honor Guard for 2.5 years.

"We do these events day in and day out. We have to be on point for every ceremony, but I never get used to it," he said. "So many people count on us to give the perfect image of the Air Force."

Including the additional missions we support, the Air Force Honor Guard has had a 10 percent increase in the missions performed compared to the number we did last year, Colonel Taylor said.

"It's very important to support these funerals," said Tech. Sgt. Richard Hopewell, the Colors Flight chief for the Air Force Honor Guard. The 17-year veteran from Colonial Beach, Va., has served on the Air Force Honor Guard for one year.

"We bury heroes every day," Sergeant Hopewell said. "We honor those who have fallen who have served our country. They deserve our service, and we aim to be as precise and perfect as can be."

"Performing honors at funerals leaves a lasting, positive memory of the Air Force for that whole family," the colonel said. "With the support of leadership, we will continue to represent the Air Force with honor."

For more information detailing the change, or to see a video that was released Sept. 24 documenting the new funeral procedures, visit the Air Force Honor Guard Web site at www.honorguard.af.mil.

(Staff Sgt. Madelyn Waychoff of Air Force Honor Guard Public Affairs contributed to this story.)

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