Ceremonies

There are several other ceremonies that you may, and most likely will, be called upon to co-ordinate. In this chapter we will cover these ceremonies.

Retirement Ceremonies
Recognition of members who are retiring from a career of long, faithful, and honorable service is one of the oldest traditions of military service. Each retiree should leave the service with a tangible expression of appreciation for his/her contribution to the Air Force, and with the assurance that they will continue to be a member of the Air Force family in retirement. The basic information on retirements and retirement ceremonies is in AFI 36-3203, Service Retirement, which incidentally, requires local commanders to have a retirement ceremony for all retiring members and specifically offer a formal ceremony.

Award/Decoration ceremonies
Award/Decoration ceremonies are somewhat similar to portions of retirement, promotion, or other ceremonies. The commander's timely presentation of the appropriate decoration at a "public" ceremony greatly enhances the value of the award to the recipient and is a plus for the entire unit.

Promotion ceremonies
Promotion ceremonies can be as simple as reading the order and pinning of the insignia and as complicated as having multiple activities occurring (presentation of certificate of promotion; presentation of a General Officer's flag; presentation of General Officer uniform items to include belt, weapon, etc.) The more activity occurring, the more coordination required! How they are done is largely a product of the host's desires and the local "standard" ceremony policy. Frocking ceremonies should have very little variance from a promotion ceremony except for the content of the order. For all promotions, ensure that you have rank insignia and the promotion certificate on hand prior to the ceremony. Establish your sequence of events and brief all participants. Explain to family members, if present, what is about to happen.

Activation / Inactivation Ceremony
These types of ceremonies are conducted in very much the same manner and build off of the basic ceremony sequence for a change of command. You will need to include all the elements of change of command planning: invitations, seating, parking, transportation, DV escort, etc. The official party will be comprised of the reviewing officer and the incumbent commanding officer for transition ceremonies; the reviewing officer and the in-coming commander for activation ceremonies; and the reviewing officer and the out-going commander for inactivation ceremonies. For an activation ceremony the reviewing officer is also the host until the activation has occurred, at which time the incoming commander becomes the host. For inactivation ceremonies, the out-going commander is the host until the inactivation occurs. Then the reviewing official becomes the host, with the out-going commander the honored guest.

Reveille and Retreat
"Reveille" was originally conducted as "Troop" in 1812 and was designed to muster the unit or for roll call and additionally to signal sentries to leave off night challenging. It was not originally intended specifically as honors for the flag. Today, reveille is conducted to honor the U.S. flag as it is raised in the morning. Honors (salute) during "Reveille" should be rendered similar to the procedure for "Retreat."