The Manuals a Veteran Organization Should Have On Hand

Veteran service organizations regularly form color guards and even perform military funeral honors daily throughout the year. The training the teams receive should come from established military manuals. This is a list of the manuals the organization may want to have on hand.

All available as a free PDF download here: https://thedrillmaster.org/downloads/

Army Standards – most prevalent

• TC 3-21.5, Drill and Ceremonies
• AR 840-10, Flags, etc.
• APAM 600-60, Army Protocol and Etiquette
• AR 600-25, Salutes, Honors and Courtesies

Marine Corps Standards

• MCO 5060.20, Drill and Ceremonies
• MCO 10520.3, Flag Manual

Navy Standards

• Both MCOs above
• NTP 13B, Flags, Pennants, and Customs
• US Navy Regulations Chapter 9, Customs and Courtesies
• US Navy Regulations Chapter 12, Flags, Pennants, Honors, and Customs

Air and Space Forces

• AFI 90-1201, Protocol
  • This is close to useless, see this for more, download AFI 34-1201, and earlier edition, which actually makes sense)
• AFPAM 34-1202, Guide to Protocol
• AFPAM 34-1203, Drill and Ceremonies (read this for more and this as well)

Ceremonial Standards

My book, The Honor Guard Manual, was written for first responders (police, fire, EMS) and anyone else who might find it helpful (hundreds of veteran organizations have). It is purely ceremonial drill and has information about every possible situation you will encounter for a color guard, firing party, and pallbearers. There are manuals for the rifle, sword, flagstaff, pike pole, bugle, protocols for indoor and outdoor presentations, flag fold techniques, and much more. It is available in print and as an eBook.

Who can benefit:

1. Those who need more information. All drill and ceremonies standards referenced for the services above are regulation drill. The manuals will help you get the job done but do not address every situation you may encounter, especially for a color guard.
2. Organizations whose members argue back and forth between following Army and Marine Corps standards. Now, just move to the ceremonial standard and eliminate arguments except for the ones who argue because that is the only thing they know how to do.