Rendering courtesy and honors to the FLAG

  • Published
  • By Staff Report
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Customs and courtesies during the daily sounding of "Reveille" and "Retreat" differ slightly between the Air Force and Army on JBER. The songs, played through the installation's mass notification system, signify the raising and lowering of the national colors.

According to Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Call, 673d Air Base Wing command chief, and Sgt. Maj. Jesse Pratt, 673d ABW sergeant major, the differences pertain mainly to rendering honors, when driving a vehicle and in the numerous bugle calls encountered on the former Army garrison.

"On Air Force installations, the normal protocol is, if you are outside, in uniform, you should face the flag or the direction of the music if the flag is not visible, and render the proper honors: stand at attention and salute," Call said. "If you are not in uniform, you would stand at attention, face the flag or the music, and you can use what is called the 'civilian salute,' place your hand over your heart, or you can just stand at attention. Civilians would basically be the same as a military member not in uniform."

Call said honors are simple enough when driving a vehicle on JBER-Elmendorf.
"If you are in a vehicle, then you stop the vehicle, normally pulling off the road completely and sit quietly in the vehicle," he explained.

Call said he turns off his radio in respect to the music honoring the colors, and opens his window so he can best hear the honors.

All too often, he said, motorists will ignore the signal.

Pratt said vehicle procedures on the former Army post differ in accordance with Army Regulation 600-25, "Salutes, Honors, and Visits of Courtesy."

He said, during "Reveille" and "Retreat," moving vehicles will stop. Military passengers and drivers will dismount and render the proper courtesies. When in buses and trucks, only the senior occupant will dismount and render courtesies.

"It's important to understand there is a difference," Call said of the two sides of JBER. "You need to do what your organization requires." Since all U.S. flags on JBER-E, including those at the 3rd Wing headquarters, the POW/MIA monument, and the Yukla 27 memorial are lit 24/7, they are never lowered except in cases of severe weather. Because U.S. flags are not raised each morning, Reveille is only sounded to start the beginning of the official duty day and vehicles are not required to stop.

But that is not to be confused with Retreat, which signals the end of the official duty day and a time to render honors to our nation's flag.

"Is it wrong for an Air Force person, who may be on the Richardson side of the installation, who sees everyone jumping out of their cars, to do the same?" he asked. "Absolutely not. I would think that I need to show that commonality. We wear the uniform, we're serving the same country, and neither is right or wrong. It's simply a difference in the cultures of each organization."

There are other major differences on the Richardson side.

Pratt said the garrison flag at Pershing Field is unlit and is raised and lowered by personnel from throughout U.S. Army Alaska troops to perpetuate Army customs at JBER.

"Reveille" and "Retreat" are accompanied by a cannon salute fired from a World War II-era 75-millimeter pack howitzer using 10-gauge shotgun shells.

The Army senior NCO said although both installations play "Reveille" at the beginning of the day, the Richardson side plays "Retreat" and "To the Colors" at the end of the day, while the Elmendorf side base plays "Retreat" and the "Star Spangled Banner."

Yet another difference, which may catch Air Force personnel off guard when visiting the Richardson side, is the series of bugle calls spread throughout the day.

According to Pratt, the garrison uses the mass notification system to play scheduled music, which includes everything from "Reveille" in the morning to "Tattoo" and "Taps" at the end of the day.

A pet peeve of both NCOs is people who make a mad dash for a building or a vehicle to avoid rendering honors at the proper times.

"Five o'clock is when 'Retreat' is sounded," Call said. "It doesn't matter what side of the installation you are on, or if you are halfway in between, we know at five o'clock, the flag's coming down, whether it's actually coming down on the Richardson side or symbolically on the Elmendorf side. Demonstrate the respect the colors deserve."