Commander Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Honor Guard

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Tim Comerford | The rifle team prepares to fire a salute.  

06.19.2009

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Tim Comerford 

Navy Region Mid-Atlantic

Trite but true ... some Sailors join the Navy to travel. But none joined the Navy to travel to funerals constantly. The Honor Guard for Commander Navy Region Mid Atlantic do just that. Traveling around the region to Honor the deceased and show that the Navy cares for its own, even in death.

The pristine uniforms, immaculate white gloves and precise choreographed moves aren't what make a Sailor Honor Guard material. That takes some mental fortitude.

"The first couple of funerals are the worst on you," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Dmitriy Ageyenkov, the team leader for the Honor Guard's team one has been part of the honor guard for 10months.

"The hardest part is seeing families on a day-to-day basis at their worst moments — when they have lost somebody they love," Ageyenkov said. "You see mothers cry for their daughters or sons, wife's cry for their husbands. Because it is so emotional you want to cry with them. You try and build a wall around the emotions but you can't ... it's still there. So you just try to think of something else."

Most of the time Sailors stay TAD to the CNMRA Honor Guard for 6 months, Ageyenkov wanted more.

"When I got here I loved it, and I decided to stay. These are a great bunch of guys. They love this job and they know it is important. They are all professional."

The first two weeks at the CNRMA Honor Guard are an evaluation period for Sailors. They are inundated with information and training.

"It's overwhelming," Ageyenkov said. "But they welcome you, they prepare you for the emotional part and then you start training. Everybody pitches in from E-1 to E-9."

Once the Sailor has been evaluated and seen as a fit part of the honor guard they made part of one of the three teams but Honor Guard continues to train its members.

"You never stop training," Ageyenkov said. "We only have one chance to get this right."

• Date Taken: 06.19.2009
• Date Posted: 06.19.2009 13:28
• Story ID: 35361