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    Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Matthew Hecht | U.S. Army Soldiers from the New Jersey National Guard's Honor Guard practice casket...... read more read more

    NJ, UNITED STATES

    02.19.2015

    Story by Staff Sgt. Wayne Woolley 

    New Jersey National Guard   

    By Staff Sgt. Wayne Woolley
    NJDMAVA Public Affairs

    LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - You need to know more than just how to fold the flag to join the New Jersey Army National Guard Honor Guard.

    How much more? Enough to fill five very long days.

    On Feb. 8, 10 Soldiers graduated from the rigorous 40-hour program required to join the New Jersey Army National Guard Honor Guard, which provides a dignified military presence at the funerals of more than 4,000 Veterans a year.

    Over the course of five days, the candidates marched thousands of times across the drill floor of the Lawrenceville armory, lifted, carried and placed a mock coffin hundreds of times and spent many excruciating minutes motionless except for the movements required to rack and re-rack the charging handle of their 9-pound M14 rifles.

    There were no complaints, even as the rifles grew heavier and beads of sweat began popping from the Soldiers’ brows.

    “I love what the Honor Guard represents, ‘duty, honor,’ ” said Spc. Alexis Rosado, a 23-year-old jeweler from West Windsor. “It’s an honor to be able to do this.”

    A position on the Honor Guard is perhaps the most visible job in the New Jersey Army National Guard.

    “At a military funeral, we only get one chance to get it right,” said Staff Sgt. John Alvarado, one of the Honor Guard’s trainers. “We may be the only face of the military the family ever is going to see. If we mess up, it reflects poorly on all of us.”

    The newly-minted Honor Guard members join the organization at a critical juncture. The program was launched in 2005 and for many years drew much of its manpower from National Guard Soldiers who served with the unit as a full-time job. That changed in the past year as budgets across the U.S. Department of Defense began to constrict. Seventeen full-time positions turned into three. Requests for the Honor Guard’s presence, however, made no such decline.

    To keep pace with requests, the Honor Guard now leans heavily on a group of 200 traditional drilling Guard Soldiers who participate in funerals on an as needed basis. And they’ve been needed. The Honor Guard is only slightly behind pace to eclipse more than 4,000 funerals again this year.

    Spc. Kerry Evans, the Honor Guard’s full-time program manager, said Soldiers who must juggle jobs, families, schools and life in addition to additional military duties are the key to the program’s future.

    “This program will rise and fall on the shoulders of the traditional drilling Soldier,” Evans said.

    That’s why the weeklong programs to induct new members are so important.

    The week begins with “Zero Day,” which includes a general overview about Honor Guard duties and the extra commitment it requires. Soldiers are already pre-screened to ensure they meet the Army’s physical fitness and body composition requirement. Looking sloppy in the dress uniform is not an option.

    The other requirements come slowly over the course of the week. Although every Soldier has a basic grasp on how to march, turn and salute, the Honor Guard takes it to a new level.
    “For a new Soldier coming in, they think ‘I know how to do a facing movement,’” Alvarado said. “Well, not like we do it.”

    The Soldiers learn how to execute facing movements while keeping their heels together, which makes the turn more fluid – and more difficult – especially in dress shoes on slippery grass.
    Other movements, such as parade rest, are the reverse of the norm, with hands folded in front instead of behind the back.
    But the biggest challenge involves moving gracefully, in unison, through a tight space with a coffin. The movements require silent commands executed after passage of a set number of seconds.

    “Everything we do is attention to detail,” Alvarado said.
    One of the reasons the training to join the Honor Guard is so intense – aside from the fact Soldiers have a week to absorb all the material from a manual as thick as a phone book – is that funeral details are both physically and emotionally draining.

    It’s not uncommon for an Honor Guard team to perform multiple burials on a duty day.

    For that reason, Soldiers are counseled to only accept the duty on a day they’re prepared to give it all they have.

    “If Honor Guard can’t be the most important thing you do that day, it’s not something you should be doing that day,” Evans said.

    It sounds like a fair bargain to the Honor Guard’s newest members.

    Eleven years ago, Pvt. Marc Lospina’s family buried his grandfather, a World War II veteran who meant the world to him. Lospina, 22, a college student from West Depford, said he fixated on the honor guard that day.

    “They were so sharp, so dignified,” Lospina said. “All I could think was ‘Someday, I want to do that.’”

    An encounter with an honor guard at a funeral for a family friend also planted the seed in Pfc. Chris Robinson’s mind.

    “It stuck with me. I saw how they connected they were to the family,” Robinson said. “And I saw what it meant to the family that the military thought enough to send that honor guard.”

    For Sgt. First Class Luis Layme, joining the honor guard is simply a logical extension of what he’s done for the better part of an 18-year career that’s included four combat deployments.
    “I’m a non-commissioned officer and it’s my job to take care of Soldiers,” Layme said. “In the honor guard, I’m still taking care of Soldiers. It may have been many years since they wore this uniform, but they’re still Soldiers.”

    That’s how Evans looks at it. He said that he’s made a special effort to reach out to funeral directors to make sure they are aware that all Veterans are entitled to an honor guard. He’s made a special push to ensure that word gets out to advocates for homeless veterans as well.

    “The funeral is the last opportunity to thank a veteran for his service,” Evans said. “We shouldn’t ever miss an opportunity to do that.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 02.19.2015
    Date Posted: 02.19.2015 15:04
    Story ID: 154882
    Location: NJ, US

    Web Views: 108
    Downloads: 0

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