Honor Guard training focuses on Travis Reserves

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Bryan Swink
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE,Calif. --  Every two months, the Travis Honor Guard holds training for prospective new members to get them spun up on movements and expectations of one of the most honored roles in the military.

Typically, this training consists primarily of active-duty Airmen from Travis, but August's training was solely focused on the reservists from the 349th Air Mobility Wing.

With the new base implementation of colors details being performed by members of that specific squadron, the Reservists were at a disadvantage because they don't have near the same amount of people trained as their active-duty counterparts.

"Before this class, we had very few reservists who could perform details for their squadron," said Master Sgt. Carol Robideaux, 349th Honor Guard superintendent. "This week really geared us in the right direction to support our wing during change of command ceremonies and retirements."

The training not only focused on performing colors details, but also taught the trainees how to perform funeral honors for both a veteran and retiree. The retiree funeral consists of a seven-member team that conducts a six-man flag fold, pall-bearing service, firing and the playing of "Taps." A veteran funeral consists of a three-member team that performs a two-man flag fold and the playing of "Taps."

"Along with colors details, we wanted to ensure the trainees know the primary role of the honor guard, which is providing funeral honors," said Robideaux, an honor guardsman since 2001. "By the end of this course, they will have a good understanding and foundation for when they perform either a colors detail or funeral honors."

The weeklong training course consisted of learning honor guard facing movements and standing manuals, which differ from traditional Air Force movements, how to present and post colors, performing firing party volleys, properly carrying a casket or urn while in formation and handing off the flag to the next of kin.

Even though it is a lot of information to absorb and retain in a week's time, the reservists were dedicated learners who understood the importance of what the honor guard does.

"Everyone in the class demonstrated the utmost professionalism and dedication to learning the movements," said Master Sgt. Nelson Almanzor, 349th Aerospace Medicine Squadron superintendent and head honor guard trainer. "I have no doubt each one of these reservists could go out and perform any of the details that we covered this week."

The training week concluded with a graduation ceremony in front of wing leadership and current honor guard members at the Travis Heritage Center. The graduation consisted of the trainees being broken up into a team that performed colors as well as a team that performed the pall bearing and six-man flag folding sequence.

"All the trainees performed exceptional during the graduation and really made us proud to build our Reserve honor guard team," Robideaux said. "We hope these members will now pass on their experiences and the importance of the program to other reservists so we can make it even stronger."