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Members of the base honor guard perform in a variety of ceremonies at locations ranging from the local KMC area to France.
Sharp. Crisp. Motionless. That’s the guard’s motto, and it’s something they strive to achieve with every practice and ceremony they perform in. Being part of the honor guard isn’t something an Airman can do to pass time. As a guardsman, members represent the Air Force at hundreds of ceremonies with which they’re involved.
“You cannot just show up here and expect the medal,” said Staff Sgt. Mathew Clayton, honor guard NCOIC of training. “You can’t just show up here, do the detail and then leave. You have to be able to put in the practice time and sacrifice your off time to be proficient in this duty.”
All of the time spent training together unites members of the honor guard, making it like a family, Clayton said.
“It’s a great group of people; we’re like a family here even though we all have different backgrounds,” Clayton said. “We come together to get the job done. We show respect to everyone because at any point an (airman first class) could be in charge of a detail.”
Since honor guard members perform in a multitude of ceremonies, they could be the only impression a community gets of the Air Force.
“You know you make an impact on the community when (we) perform in various ceremonies,” said Senior Airman Jasmine Payne, honor guard member. “Especially here in Europe, that ceremony could be the only time someone gets to see representatives from the Air Force.”
The ceremonial guardsmen also provide the opportunity to see events that Airmen may not get to see otherwise, Payne said.
“It’s a good experience, you get to see a variety of events that happen all around that you may not have known about before being a member of the honor guard,” Payne said.
One event in particular that sticks out to Payne, is a funeral she performed while stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.
“My most memorable experience was doing a funeral for an Airman who was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.,” Payne said. “During the ceremony I was in direct view of his family, I got to see how much he meant to them. So being able to honor him was probably my most memorable experience since joining the honor guard.”
If you’re interested in joining the honor guard, visit Bldg. 2010 where practices begin at 2 p.m. every Wednesday, or call 480-5968 or 06371-47-5968.
