Photo By Lt. Col. Peter Bogart | Soldiers from 5th Squadron, 7th Calvary Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team...... read more read more
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FORT STEWART, Georgia- Soldiers from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division took over responsibility for the Fort Stewart Military Funeral Honors on February 2, 2019.
Any former service members who were not dishonorably discharged are entitled to funeral honors and the Soldiers from across the Raider’s Brigade support military funerals and for 14 counties in Florida, 13 counties in Georgia, and 2 counties in South Carolina to honor those who served their country.
The teams consist of flag folding personnel and full honor personnel. The Soldiers are on call seven days a week and 362 days a year with the exceptions being New Year’s Day, President’s Day and Christmas Day.
Service members who served on active duty or more than 20 years in the military receive full honors. A full honor is a 21- gun salute, playing of taps, and the folding and presentation of the American flag to the next-of-kin. Service members who served in the military under 20 years receives a flag fold. A flag fold is folding the American flag and presenting it to the next-of-kin during the services.
“It is our duty as Soldiers to honor the fallen from the generations that came before us. We do this by performing military funeral services,” said Sgt. Maj. Patrick L. Rivers Jr., 5th Squadron 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1ABCT Operational Sergeant Major. “We ensure that these Soldiers are honored appropriately by repeatedly rehearsing the service in real time to ensure that we get every detail right. Successful services are characterized by portrayal of passion, emotion, respect and attention to detail.”
Each noncommissioned officer in charge of the battalion honor team trains and tests Soldiers’ on the abilities to modify funeral honors. They test them on how to execute the manual of arms with M-4 Rifles, the movement of drill and ceremony, how to carry a weighted casket and uniform inspection.
“We have to validate each battalion within the brigade every week to make sure they are ready at all times,” said Sgt. 1st Class James Ruiz, 1ABCT noncommissioned officer in charge of the honor program. “The Raider Soldiers have set the standard across Fort Stewart.”
Ruiz said that the honor teams have executed 136 funerals this year. For some Soldiers, this is their first time being a part of a funeral detail and they were glad to be able to give something back to the Families.
“Being involved in the funeral detail has been a great experience because I got the opportunity to train Soldiers on drill and ceremony and the military values,” said Sgt. Larry Warner assigned to 3rd Brigade Support Battalion, 1ABCT. “Being a part of the team, I got to interact with new people across the brigade and the opportunity to honor my fallen battle buddies that paved the way for us in the military.”
| Date Taken: | 02.21.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2019 21:42 |
| Story ID: | 312006 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 45 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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