McChord Field Honor Guard trades flightline tools for 'Taps' to honor fallen Airmen

Published Nov. 21, 2011
By David Poe
Northwest Guardian

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- Somewhere deep in the bowels of the 62nd Airlift Wing's headquarters at McChord Field, an Air Force non-commissioned officer grasps the field of blue on an American flag while a junior Airman ceremoniously folds up the stars and bars. Half way up the length, he realizes he folded a triangle awry, lifts his head to the sky in quiet frustration and a little loss of pride.

"That's okay, do it again," the technical sergeant says, "Go slow, and don't be nervous."

The Airman unfolds his work and starts again. Restarts are okay in this otherwise empty room, yet a display case nearby which holds a bevy of hand-written notes reminds the junior Airman that proper folds are more than just about geometry.

The junior Airman, one of 72 Joint Base Lewis-McChord Airmen who are temporarily assigned to the McChord Field Honor Guard for one-year stints, gets it right the second time, but still gets pointers on how to do it crisper and smoother.

During his year, which he'll spend one out of every three months directly supporting Honor Guard taskings, the second on call to back up the primary teams, and the third in training, he alone could be on roughly 80 to 100 funeral details and possibly 20 color guards. Among other duties, Tech. Sgt. Rebecca Moore, NCOIC for the McChord Field Honor Guard, said while the team is proud to meet a herculean task of rendering honors for any passed Airmen from the Peace Arch crossing at the Canadian border, south into Oregon and a good reach east over the mountains, which has supported almost 700 funerals in 2011, their true concern is with only a single number: one.

Speaking of the attention to detail and care which is applied to each singular funeral day in and day out, Moore said, "We're possibly going to be the last thing that family knows about the Air Force. We talk about that. We don't do this for us, this is for the family. We don't punch tickets and go home, everything (in our lives) gets put on hold for the 30-40 minutes of the service."

With at least 48 Airmen either actively serving or training with the team at all times, normally the many different personalities may be hard to handle in a "no-fail mission," but Moore said when that mission is rendering final honors for fellow Airmen, its importance hits home quickly.

"We get a lot of volunteers, but some arrive not as committed," she said. "They're 'grumbly' during their first two weeks of training, but they'll go out and do their first detail and come back changed. They say 'I get it now, I understand why we do this and usually they become the most productive people."

She also acknowledged that cooperation from unit leadership teams across McChord Field continue to be vital to the success of the program because of the dedicated scheduling requirements of the duty.

Senior Airman Joshua Hutton, a 62nd Maintenance Squadron crew chief, has already served a year with the team, but has returned to fill a short-term spot. The son of a career Sailor, the son of a Soldier, and a brother of another Airman, he said pride in himself and his lineage continue to keep him focused over the many details, as well as a responsibility he feels to those he had never met.

"I stayed motivated by keeping a good image of myself and my name," he said. "These people who passed away did their time, so they deserve these honors."

Moore added that though the last rank of the deceased, or other considerations, have dictated entitlements which are designated by the Air Force, she has no doubt that every detail covered by her office is done in a professional manner because service simply is service.

"I don't care if the deceased was a general or an airman basic," she said, "We give the same dignity and professionalism for everybody. They served."

Following a few more folds and salutes, the Airmen in the big, empty room move on to other ceremonial training. Not because they'll win awards or medals for it, or they'll receive extra pay for it, but simply because they feel it's the right thing to do. Whether they gave two years of their lives during the Vietnam conflict, or 30 years of service in peacetime and wartime alike, everyone gave their all to their Air Force, and the McChord Field Honor Guard team believes they all deserve honors rendered. Funerals aren't their only duty in service with the honor guard, yet there's only one duty for which all others fall under, that of being selfless.