Three-Man Color Team for former President Ronald Reagan

Civil Air Patrol, Naval Sea Cadet Corps, or Coast Guard Auxiliary Member Funeral

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I received a message a short time ago regarding cadets taking part in the funeral of a civilian adult who was a member of Civil Air Patrol. This applies not only to CAP but also NSCC, and CGA (CGA has some interaction with the Sea Scout program). Military Funeral Honors Public Law 106-65 amended Title 10 U.S. Code § 1491 …

Gurkhas

What is the Position of Attention?

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Description This isn’t a complete definition, it’s to give us an idea of what we use it for at it’s basic level. It’s the position from which all movement is performed. The body, held in a fairly rigid stance and yet without tension, must remain at Attention for facing movements, faces-in-marching, the hand salute, and movements with the guidon, flagstaff, …

Pentagon River Entrance Arrival

Joint Service – Separated

DrillMasterColor Guard/Color Team, Honor Guard, Instructional 2 Comments

I received a great question the other day. Why are the color guards at the Pentagon and sometimes at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier carrying the American and a foreign national flag with guards and what dictates the order of the manning for both teams? Joint Service A full joint service arrival ceremony for a foreign dignitary at the …

The Firing Party Timing

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Forensic Experts Galore What you hear and what you see can be two different things. A firing party fires so quickly that it can be impossible to hear that a single shot fired by all seven team members is not at exactly the same split second. We hear perfection, but a photo or still from a video can show a …

The 21-Gun Salute

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Let us get this out of the way: a firing party does not fire the 21-gun Salute.  The 21-Gun Salute is fired on land or at sea, and only by cannons, which are called guns. I know we call a rifle a gun, but it’s a rifle. The Firing Party fires the Three Volley Salute. Click here to read Fire Team, …

The Personal Color

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A Note To Those Who Mount Personal/Positional Colors The stars point up. The stars point UP. Definition -Personal Color For the US government and military, a personal color is a flag that represents an individual’s rank and/or office. This is where the term Flag Officer comes from. General Officers (GOs), Generals and Admirals, are Flag Officers because they have a …

The DrillMaster Response

DrillMasterColor Guard/Color Team, Commentary, Drill Teams, Honor Guard 1 Comment

While a massive majority of readers understand exactly what I do, there a tiny few who feel that I need to be told how to do what I do. However, those few are very few and are disrespectful, arrogant, selfish, prideful, vulgar, and many times childish.

Wreath Laying Ceremony Protocols eBook

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It took a couple of months of writing and editing and my colleagues gave some great feedback during that time (thank you, Jari, Mike, and DeVaughn!) and now it’s finally here. An eBook that covers every possible (well, as much as I can conceive) wreath laying ceremony and how to accomplish it. You can purchase the eBook here.