Date: 30 January 2008
To: SFC Paul, Danny
From: SSG Harris, Dennis
Subject: Proposal for an easy to use Honor Guard User manual.
New funeral honor guard soldiers find it difficult, long, and "boring" to read the MFH (Military Funeral Honor Guard) SOP (Standing Operating Procedure) and many others do not even know about the also difficult to understand FM (field manual) 3-21.5 (Drill and Ceremony). I propose to condense the SOP with some excerpts from FM 3-21.5 into a soldier-friendly manual that any new honor guard can read and understand.
Project Summary
The new user manual will break down the types of funerals, step-by-step procedure in accomplishing those types of funerals, and extra information gathered from experienced honor guards. I will break down the three main types of funerals: Regular Honors, Full Honors, and KIA. In each section of the types of funerals, the manual will break down each step as if the soldier was at the funeral site. I will speak with the honor guards who have performed over 250 funerals. I've done over 900 and I've experienced a lot, but I still can learn from other honor guards in the field.
Background and Purpose
Many of the new honor guards find it nerve racking when performing their first 10 funerals. The new soldiers are experiencing stage fright and they are nervous about their performance during the funeral. The major problem that I see is that they are not receiving enough training, even with a lot of hands on training. I know that a user manual that they can take home, will help their confidence during a funeral.
Proposed Plan
After participating in over 900 funerals in an array of locations, I've experienced many different scenario's dealing with new and experienced honor guards, family members, funeral directors, civilian and military chaplains, and other participants at the funeral site. I propose the following plan to you:
Regular Honors. This section of the manual will address the most frequent type of service experienced at Bushnell National Cemetery. I will use this portion to exemplify the basics. The basics I will break down in this section are:
- Drill and Ceremony
- Escorting Urn and casket
- Playing "Taps"
- Folding the flag
- Presenting the flag
- Waiting for family to vacate
Full Honors. The second most frequent, which requires the new honor guard to memorize the sequence of being part of the firing party, is similiar to regular honors when it comes to being nervous. I will highlight the basics, with emphasis on the firing sequence. This section will be broken down into these parts:
- Summarized section of the above regular honor basics
- Firing in the firing party
- Pallbearing
KIA (Killed in Action). This service is of course the most important requiring perfect synchronization. Since this service will be highly visible to the public and other military members, this section of the manual will demonstrate the additional steps required at a high profile funeral. Those extra steps, which can be used in the above two services are:
- Posting sentries
- Pall bearing to and from the church and to the burial plot
- Folding the flag with a team of six
- Responding to the media
Staffing
I will write this manual with the help of experienced honor guards, interviews with new honor guards, and corrections by your and the other ADSW's (Active Duty Special Work).
Budget
There is no money involved. The supplies will come from various supply rooms at the Armed Forces Reserve Center.
Conclusion
I am convinced, SFC Paul, that you will impressed with the user manual. please call or email me at (727) 510-1918, and email dennis.harris@us.army.mil. I look forward to providing a user manual that is useful to the new honor guards soldiers.
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