Photo By Master Sgt. Joseph Harwood | Master Sgt. Michael Swick of the 179th Airlift Wing and Master Sgt. Daniel Petry of...... read more read more
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MANSFIELD, Ohio- In the month of November, America recognizes the sacrifices made by its Veterans. For Master Sgt. Michael Swick, 179th Airlift Wing Base Honor Guard program manager and Noncommissioned Officer In Charge, it’s never just the 11th day of that month; it’s a way of life, year round. Integrity, service and excellence are the core values of the United States Air Force, and the embodiment of those values is seen every day in those who choose to serve the Base Honor Guard.
On any given day, members of the Base Honor Guard are tasked to travel within Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s 210,000 square-mile area of responsibility that covers five states spanning Ohio, parts of Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, performing military funeral honors for active-duty Airmen, veterans and retirees or the Air Force, Army Air Corps, and Army Air Forces.
In 2019, Swick said that ceremonial guardsmen of the 179th Airlift Wing Base Honor Guard have supported 153 funeral services. In addition to funeral services, the base honor guard contributed to 50 color guard events, providing colors details for military ceremonies, marching in parades and appearing at professional sporting events and federal holiday celebrations throughout the year.
“The Base Honor Guard mission is to honor, with dignity,” said Swick, “We go into our communities as ambassadors for our base and the United States Air Force, realizing that these civilians may witness us as their first and potentially last encounter with our service so it’s imperative that we leave
them with a great impression. We must be squared away as far as uniform, military standards and bearing.”
Swick stressed that they are always in need of new Base Honor Guard members, “We have a lot of ground to cover, and can’t always plan far in advance for our line of work. We need ceremonial minutemen, so to speak, ready to drop everything at a moment’s notice and suit up to render honors
at a military funeral.”
Just in the month leading up to Veterans Day, Swick said his team has rendered honors at another 25 military funerals.
The efforts to ensure our veterans are honored come from all ranks. Even the current State Command Chief Master Sergeant, Tom Jones, has completed 99 funerals and will soon participate in the 100th of his career.
It’s a lot to ask of Airmen who initially committed to one weekend a month and two weeks per year with the Air National Guard. Swick isn’t asking anything of anyone he wouldn’t do himself, personally performing over two thousand funerals in his time as a Base Honor Guard member, starting in 2006.
To render military funeral honors with the Base Honor Guard, recruits must first complete a weeklong training session. The crash course covers military ceremonies, standing manuals, command voices, flag folding, basic rifle drill and uniform inspections, ensuring each ceremonial guardsman looks his or her best.
Practice doesn’t stop there, though. When the Airmen are not performing services, they are constantly perfecting their drills. It takes continual practice to stay sharp, and the skills quickly fade without use.
Each type of ceremony has different requirements. While the most basic flag folding requires only two Airmen, some ceremonies can require up to 20 Airmen, grouped in several moving parts. Every routine is repeated until the Airmen learn to move in unison, to verbal commands and cadence. All of
the flight members know they are serving for something greater than themselves.
“Without teamwork, we are not one cohesive unit…Whether it’s carrying a casket, presenting colors or folding a flag, we all need to be on the same page at all times,” Swick added, “because we believe that it matters, that what we’re doing is representative of the great sacrifices these members we’re honoring have made.”
| Date Taken: | 11.26.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 11.26.2019 16:07 |
| Story ID: | 353590 |
| Location: | MANSFIELD, OH, US |
| Web Views: | 198 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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