Some of my Certified US Ceremonial Guardsmen in Pennsylvania decided to get to work and modify their sockets. This modification is necessary, in my view, if you cannot obtain a better (metal cup) socket.
Joint Service – Separated
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 Argument From AFMAN 36-2203
What argument would this be? It’s about using the other two service manuals. It gets a bit complicated, but bear with me as we go through why the AFMAN has so little information and what to do about it. We need to understand that all three drill and ceremonies manuals are lacking in certain aspects and using ones best judgment …
The Firing Party Timing
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 …
A Study of Mark Time
Marching in place, marking time. Many think they know how to do it. There are three different regulation drill techniques for the US military and two techniques for ceremonial drill.
Can Any Event Have a Colors Presentation?
Must an event be a formal military occasion to be eligible for a color guard to present the colors?
Presenting the Colors at a Sporting Event
In 2017 I was talking with one of the JROTC instructors at one of the local high schools where I have taught in the afternoons and he was relaying the story of their color guard presenting the colors for a professional ball club and how the training I gave the team really helped since it provided the cadets and the …
“Cutting the Colors”
There is a very strange story about a line of flags and members of the military and veterans not being authorized to walk in between them. Most of this is a load of fertilizer that is quite deep.
The AFMAN Right Face in Marching is Wrong
While initially reading through AFMAN 36-2201, you may skim across the information and accept it at face value, however, if you look deeper into the Face as in Marching, you will see there is a problem.
Folded Flag Salute Protocol
Yes, we want to honor our flag and we should, but…