Airforce to do away with the rifle detail at funerals

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First Shirt
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:32 pm

Re: Airforce to do away with the rifle detail at funerals

Post by First Shirt »

It's been coming for a while now. Since the late 80s, you couldn't get a funeral detail from Offutt unless the honoree died on active duty. Everyone else, including retirees, (even officers) is handled by local veterans organizations, usually VFW, VVOA, or the UNO chapter of the Pen-and-Sword Society (it's kinda like a fraternity, but for veterans).

Did see a neat detail once. The honoree was a retired Air Force Lt./Col., and he'd been big in the local reenactors/buckskinners groups. So the funeral detail consisted of three men, wearing the uniform of the 17th Maryland (Revolutionary War), and three gunbearers, wearing civilian-style clothing of the late 18th century. The volleys were fired with repro Brown Bess muskets.

After the first "Present Arms!" and "Fire!" the next command was "Pass!" The shooters would hand off the fired musket to his gunbearer, take a fresh one, and repeat the process.

Got a feeling the colonel would have approved.
But there ain't many troubles that a man caint fix, with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
Lindy Cooper Wisdom
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JAG2955
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:21 pm

Re: Airforce to do away with the rifle detail at funerals

Post by JAG2955 »

In the Corps, if you were buried on or near a base, it was usually active-duty Marines. If you were farther away, it would be passed off to a Marine Corps League detachment, with I&I staff as the casket escort and flag detail.
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