Lincolnton Police Department officers pose with members of the Army 3rd Infantry Regiment.
MICHELLE T. BERNARD
Staff Writer
The Lincolnton Police Department recently sent six of its officers to be trained to form a color guard. They were trained by the oldest active-duty infantry in the Army — the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, traditionally known as the “Old Guard.”
“We went over policy and procedure and what we would need to form the color guard as far as cost,” Sgt. Spencer Summers said. “We knew we were going to be a brand new team and were going to have to start from the ground up and what better way to get training than to work with the 3rd Infantry of the U.S. Army up in Fort Myer in Virginia because they are the best of the best.”
Formed in 1784, the 3rd U.S. Infantry is the official ceremonial unit of the Army, according to its web site. Its soldiers provide escorts for the president and security for Washington, D.C. in time of national emergency or civil disturbance. The Old Guard also conducts military ceremonies at the White House, the Pentagon and national memorials. Soldiers of the Old Guard maintain a 24-hour vigil at the Tomb of the Unknowns and provide military funeral escorts at Arlington National Cemetery and in parades at Fort Myer and Fort Lesley J. McNair.
“We figured it would be an honor and we knew other departments had done it in the past and if we could get that kind of hands-on training we could come back and teach our officers how to do the same type of sequences,” Summers said.
The Lincolnton Police color guard would do the burial ceremony for any deaths within the department. Its members will march in parades and other special events.
“Any time we can promote the Lincolnton Police Department within the community is positive and a color guard puts our best foot forward,” Capt. Brian Greene said. “It gives the officers something else to be a part of in the department.”
Six Lincolnton Police officers, including Summers, were sent to be trained by the Old Guard – Officer Derek Thom, Officer Jennifer Green, Officer Trey Fulbright, Officer Tyler Hart and Officer Tom Hall.
While in training, they learned the proper way to salute, the ceremonial drill, using rifles to do the facing and marching movements, the proper way to carry and fold a flag and the casket burial sequence. The training was more strenuous than Summers expected.
“It was challenging,” he said. “The rifles and flags were heavy. We also carried weighted and empty caskets not really long distances but repeatedly picking them up and setting them down wore on you. We were all tired by the end of the day.”
Image courtesy of Contributed
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