They pay homage, provide comfort, bear witness and give reassurance — and to get an idea of just what goes into all that, it is best to read the manual.
A quick Google search will uncover a 2018 United States Air Force document listing the requirements and procedures for those looking to serve as members of the USAF Honor Guard. A few things have changed since then, but the overall concept is the same. The manual is a whopping 257 pages with three short introductory paragraphs before diving into every last part of an honor guard’s duties and expectations. There are instructions for when and how airmen must inflect their voices while giving orders. There are instructions for how to wear the uniform’s trousers — length extending to 1 inch past the rear of the shoe with a slight break in the front crease. A guide to fingernail length? There is a section on that, the requirement being no more than a quarter of an inch.
‘I would consider us to be an elite team,” said Master Sgt. Krista Kollias, honor guard program manager at the Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville. “We want to have people with the utmost pride and professionalism before we recruit them to the honor guard.”
Master Sgt. Krista Kollias
Every bit makes a difference. An honor guard at a USAF funeral means more than just some marching and a gun salute. By being at their absolute best, honor guard members tell families they and their loved ones deserve nothing less than the best.
“It is an opportunity and a privilege to be here,” said Airman 1st Class Emmanuel Okindo, honor guardsman.
For a shot at the honor guard, Okindo first had to post a high enough score on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery and then meet the physical requirements of basic training. Yet Okindo and his teammates are never really done with training. When not being called to all areas of Arkansas for military funerals, honor guard members spend time in a nondescript building located near one of the base’s air strips. It is a place to relax, but it is also a place to train and practice. Just about every part of a guardsman’s job can be replicated in the facility, once again underscoring the level of importance of their duty. Nothing less than perfection is tolerated.
The USAF Honor Guard at Little Rock Air Force Base serves at military funerals all across the state.
“Our initial training is three weeks,” Kollias said. “Then, after that, [guardsman recruits] shadow the people that have been here from three to six months. That way, they can just get that experience and eyes on them without actually doing it. They build up a comfort level. After that, we have sustainment training. Anytime they’re not scheduled to be at a funeral, they’re here, training.”
A guardsman can easily end up serving at hundreds of funerals per year. Those take place rain or shine, hot or cold, and the 100th funeral needs to be treated as just as important as the first funeral.
Airman 1st Class Emmanuel Okindo
“The best I can say is if you don’t do anything intentionally, it is going to be painful learning the actual process,” Okindo said. “This is a thinking-based job. At the end of the day, you need to be able to be sharp and thinking about the entire process as it’s going on.”
Photos provided by LRAFB
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