Shaw Honor Guard presents perfection

Published Aug. 31, 2006
By Senior Airman Holly MacDonald
20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C -- Each base is represented by its honor guard. The honor guard may leave a lasting impression on many family members, community members and servicemembers. Shaw Honor Guard members are making their impressions with each detail.

Honor guard duties include: funerals, retirement ceremonies, color posting, base functions, wedding ceremonies and airman leadership school graduations, said Airman 1st Class Michael McGuire, base honor guard member.

Before Airmen become part of the honor guard, they must earn their hats. All members have been through an initial two-week training course. During this course, Airmen must learn all honor guard positions and perfect key positions, which are the positions of command.

"During the first few weeks it's an adjustment period. Those who adjust end up being the best we have," Airman McGuire said.

The new honor guard members will perform details in four states. Shaw covers locations east of the base, and in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and north-eastern Georgia, he said.

To cover this area, the team is composed of 20 members from multiple organizations. The team also has one NCO in charge, one assistant NCO in charge and two flight sergeants.

The team is able to keep a steady number because the members work three-month cycles. The members take an absence from their regular career fields and perform honor guard duties instead.

"The three-month schedule allows us to be as good as we are," said Airman McGuire. "Other bases don't have the time to fully commit. We do, and it really shows."

During the three months, the members are not allowed to take leave. They perform an average of 30 details per month. The 20 members are broken up into two teams to cover the details.

"We try to keep an equal skill level on each team so that no team is better than the other," Airman McGuire said. "We're always training as a team. On days we don't have details, we're training to perfect every member," he said.

The two teams alternate weekends; however, sometimes both teams are needed to cover the weekend details. If there are too many details for the teams to cover, other members who are not on their three-month shifts may be recalled.

Members usually serve a one-year commitment, totaling six months working and six months on call. The NCO in charge serves a different commitment.

Tech. Sgt. Ernest Flippin, Shaw Honor Guard NCO in charge, said he has a two-year commitment to the honor guard. He went to the standard two-week course and also attended a course at Bolling AFB, Washington D.C., with the Air Force Honor Guard.

Normally the NCO in charge doesn't go along on details. His main duty is to manage the overall program, he said. The assistant NCO in charge handles training, discipline and uniform inspections.

"I think everyone should join at least once for the experience," said Staff. Sgt. Telissa Diggs, Shaw Honor Guard assistant NCO in charge. "A lot of people don't know what the honor guard is, inside and outside of the military."

Those who do know what the honor guard is may have a lot of respect for the members and their duties.

"For a lot of families we are the only visual they have of the Air Force," Airman McGuire said. "If I could do this for the rest of my enlistment I would," he said. "Just being able to give families the proper honors makes me proud of what I'm doing."