Released by 3 Wing Public Affairs

ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- Airman Eric Scott receives training from Staff Sergeant Alex Frizzo on Thursday, April 16. SSgt Frizzo and other instructors from the Air Force Honor Guard taught members of the Elmendorf Honor Guard in funeral processions, salutes, and flag bearing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Laura Turner)

Released by 3 Wing Public Affairs

ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- Members of the Elmendorf Honor Guard team receive training from members of the Air Force Honor Guard on Thursday, April 16. The group learns how to perfect their ceremonial skills during a burial. All members that passed the course graduated on Wednesday, April 22. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Laura Turner)

Practice makes perfect honor guard

Published April 21, 2009
By Airman Jack Sanders
3rd Wing Public Affairs

ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- Members of the Elmendorf Air Force Base honor guard have gotten extra training the past few weeks.

Airmen from the Air Force national honor guard came to Elmendorf April 13-23 to help train the base honor guard here.

"We're here, basically, to come out and train the local base honor guard," said Staff Sgt. Alex Frizzo, United States Air Force Honor Guard. Frizzo is one of three national hour guard trainers who are here. "Currently...we have three rotations, we have Senior Airman Cambell teaching body bearers, Staff Sgt. Cenatiempo teaching firing party and myself teaching colors," he said.

The base honor guard is taking time out of their schedule, a week, to do their best to learn all that the National honor guard can teach them. "I think it's pretty cool," said Airman 1st Class Jose Camacho, a military justice paralegal, in reference to his opinion on the National Honor Guard teaching the base honor guard. "I learned some new stuff that I didn't even know about," he said.

"What we do for it (referring to the training) is we look for standardization," said Frizzo. "One of our main goals is to standardize funerals across the Air Force. We've been doing this for quite a few years now," he said. Frizzo said that they are just now getting to the point where all the bases are beginning to look the same.

The idea is that in a few more years all base honor guards will be very similar. "We show them what we do, and they give us some examples and some clues and some tips at how to make it look better," said Camacho. "Our instructor didn't step in too much. I guess if he'd see something he'd (tell us the difference and) we try to implement it into our stuff."

"It's just really cool to have the actual Air Force Honor Guard here teaching us. We're at a lower level so we don't really expect much when we do our duties here, but they've been everywhere and they've done presidential burials ," said Camacho.

The Elmendorf base honor guard has had the chance to do many tasks around the base. Retirements, flag folding, and funerals are just a taste of the flavor the honor guard brings to Elmendorf Air Force Base.