Air Force changes military funeral honors requirements Published June 21, 2013 By Mary Lou Gorny Hilltop Times Editor HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- Due to the impact of sequestration, the funerals of retirees will fall under an adjusted requirements policy for military funeral honors similar to that which is already used for veterans, an Air Force news release said. The adjustment was effective as of June 4. The seven member services for retirees when available had included six members to serve as pall-bearers, a six member flag-folding ceremony and a three volley gun salute. Those still may be provided on occasion if the local commander decides it can be supported. Veteran's funerals currently receive the services of two-member teams. "We cherish the service and sacrifice of our retirees," said Brig. Gen. Eden Murrie, director of Air Force Services. "While we had to adjust the Air Force requirement as a result of sequestration, commanders still have the latitude to provide seven-member details if local resources permit." Under the new requirements a two member team provides a flag-folding ceremony, the playing of taps and the presentation of the flag to the next of kin, said Master Sgt. Dwayne Blanchette, Hill AFB Honor Guard superintendent. Honor guard members serve in three flights in periods of two week rotations. They serve four weeks in their home unit. The only other funeral service which the honor guard provides is for active duty and includes 21 gun salutes, pall bearers, the playing of taps, flag-folding ceremonies and flag presentations to next of kin. Naturally, these involve a larger number of honor guard personnel and skills that wouldn't be used as often under the new policy. In order to help fill those numbers it is possible for honor guard to call in current honor guard members from their home units. All honor guard members need to be proficient in these types of skills because they could be called up for those services. Members continue to practice on such things as pall bearing, volley parties and larger numbers involved in a flag presentation to next of kin. The 20-member honor guard at Hill AFB has four remaining openings. The term of service is for one year and involves lots of evenings, Saturdays and practice. Interviews are conducted in order to select members for service. "There's a lot that goes into this program," Blanchette said. Sometimes the honor guard travels as far north as Idaho, or as far away as Moab or Green River, Utah. "We are talking about spending eight hours in a van, traveling just to get there, practicing there and performing (the ceremony) in 30 minutes for a family, and then coming back," said Blanchette. Honor guard members serve at the afore-mentioned ceremonies, and in addition clean flags and flag mounts, clean vehicles, and maintain equipment used by honor guard. Blanchette remembers the first funeral he served at. He wondered what it would be like beforehand but found that the skills and professionalism he had learned kicked in and over the course of several ceremonies he said he found that: "You take care of the mission. I knew that I had a mission to perform for this family who had lost a member." Blanchette, who is eligible for retirement himself next year, has seen several changes in the Air Force over the years. "Change is constant," he said. On average, five to seven requests come in a week for funeral ceremonies and five requests a week come in for color guard, both on and off the base. Blanchette has noticed locally, Utah is losing a lot of its veterans. He assumes it holds true for the nation. "Paying respect to the men and women (who served) before us -- the only reason we are able to do that is because of what they did," said Blanchette. "When you look at history, wars and conflicts, if it had gone different, we wouldn't be sitting here."