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Guard Times
High standards for Honor Guard Academy By Tech. Sgt. Mike R. Smith Guard Times Staff LATHAM – On a mission to standardize its operating procedures statewide, the New York Military Forces Honor Guard (MFHG) held its first Honor Guard Academy March 21 at the Division of Military and Naval Affairs here. The Honor Guard Academy is a one-week course that includes more than 40 hours of classroom training and 10 hours of practical exercises on military funeral honors. The MFHG provides New York State veterans with appropriate honors at burial. “Throughout the State, there are more than 250 Soldiers doing this on some type of [time] basis,” said 1st Lt. Stephen Warren, officer in charge. “Right now were trying to get those Soldiers though the class, then others will be trained as they join us.” The class included 14 students and six instructors from the MFHG’s three regions that serve the state. Classroom instruction included a drill and ceremony refresher as well as memorial affairs history and stress management. Practical exercise included the full range of funeral honors: flag folding, firing parties, drill and ceremony, brass sequences and urn/casket honors. Here, timing, synchronization and positioning played a key role as instructors observed the students through their routines while offering constructive criticism. Students also performed physical fitness daily. We try to say as close to Army regulations as possible while incorporating the National Guard’s standard operating procedures, Warren said.
Everything was tested through a written test, practical exercises and uniform inspections. Drill and ceremony, modified full honors and the Six Soldier Fold were tested before the student body and the instructors. The Soldiers got one opportunity to retest. For more information on New York’s Honor Guard and to join a detail, email Mr. Donald Roy: donald.roy@ny.ngb.army.mil, or call (518) 786-4906. !
Soldiers put the final fold in the American Flag. Photos by Tech. Sgt. Mike R. Smith
Spc. William Sharples lifts the Flag from a casket.
Spc. Ryan Comstock is tested on bugle honors.
Above: Students watch their peers during the classes’ final test. Right: An instructor watches a flag folding exercise.
An instructors reviews student folders prior to practical tests.
A bugle case is closed after the class.