Photo By Staff Sgt. Janae Aguirre | Senior Airman Leah Craig, air transportation apprentice with the 139th Logistics...... read more read more
The vision of the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard is to ensure a legacy of Airmen who: promote the mission; protect the standards; perfect the image; and preserve the heritage. The 139th Airlift Wing is proud to be honoring this tradition once again.
“Honor Guard is two people representing every member of the U.S. Air Force, honoring a fellow brother and sister-in-arms, giving one final message of condolence to the family honoring their loved one’s service,” said Senior Airman Leah Craig, air transportation apprentice with the 139th Logistics Readiness Squadron.
The 139th Airlift Wing is proud to have two Honor Guard Airmen to begin opening up this tradition once again.
“It’s fun to see people who have done Honor Guard before in the past and bringing it back, and being one of the first people to restart the program is exciting and you’re kind of just laying a new foundation and new stepping stones for the future,” said Craig.
Honor Guard training is two weeks long and consists of learning new facing movements specific to Honor Guard, the Honor Guard creed, the presidential message, two-man flag code sequence, and how to present it to the family, pallbearing and the nine round firing party.
“I would say that it is very prestigious, honorable, not just anybody can do it. You have to have the want to do it because it’s very tedious,” said Craig.
Since its origin, the Honor Guard stands as a representation of Airmen across the nation.
“You’re definitely held to a higher standard,” said Craig. “You have to look sharp and clean all the time.”
With that high standard comes great honor. Craig described that honor as a full circle. She explained that once a service member is laid to rest, they have accomplished a full circle from the time they joined the military to the end of the line.
“It’s just a very honorable feeling, being able to do that,” said Craig. “You feel very prideful, you feel very thankful for the service that you’re able to give.”
The 139th Airlift Wing is currently searching for more to complete the team. Honor Guard is composed of anywhere between two and seven Airmen. At present, Senior Airman Leah Craig and Staff Sgt. Jill Morgan, a base services specialist with the 139th Force Support Squadron, are on the Honor Guard team.
“I think it’s very exciting seeing the Honor Guard come back to the base,” said Craig.
| Date Taken: | 02.05.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 02.05.2023 14:35 |
| Story ID: | 437853 |
| Location: | ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 132 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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