Honor guard displays motto of honoring with dignity Published May 21, 2007 By Debbie Aragon 55th Wing Public Affairs OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- Offutt's honor guard showed it is ready, willing and able to live up to its motto - "To Honor With Dignity" - during an annual open house May 9 at the Frady Fitness Center. During three separate sessions throughout the day, honor guard members performed the precise, solemn movements of a full honors funeral followed by a breathtaking exhibition drill with World War II era M-1 rifles complete with bayonets to highlight its professionalism, precision, teamwork and discipline. The honor guard has held annual open houses since 2003 in hopes of accomplishing several goals, said Staff Sgt. Cale Jensen, Offutt Honor Guard NCO in charge. Its first goal is to inform Offutt members of the honor guard's primary mission. "Congressional mandates state all service members who serve honorably are entitled to military funeral honors," Sergeant Jensen said. "That is the reason we exist." When each member joins the unit, he or she must memorize the Honor Guard Creed, Sergeant Jensen said, to make sure they are always aware of the unit's responsibility to honor our nation's veterans with dignity during funeral honors. Through the annual open houses, the team also hopes to achieve greater support for the honor guard. "Most people are familiar with color guard support for retirements and change of command ceremonies ... This setting allows supervisors and commanders to see how their Airmen are representing Offutt and the Air Force while they're away from their regular duty section," Sergeant Jensen said. Offutt's honor guard performed more than 170 funerals honor last year in its area of responsibility that covers all of Iowa, 73 counties in Nebraska and three counties in Kansas - some 100,000 square miles. A final goal of the honor guard open house is recruiting, Sergeant Jensen said, with many potential honor guardsmen coming to see what the team is all about. Currently, the guard only has about 35 active members and 40 on inactive reserve. Because of the great responsibility involved, Sergeant Jensen said he looks for key attributes in potential honor guardsmen. "Key is a desire to become a better Airman," the sergeant said. "We want members who are serious about being future leaders in our Air Force." Being part of Offutt's honor guard "gives us an opportunity to create a lasting impression on our civilian community," Sergeant Jensen said. In addition to Team Offutt members, about 20 local business leaders sat in the audience during the final open house performance as part of a day-long tour of the base. "It was a wonderful way to end a memorable day," said John Dawson, account executive for Windstream Communications and a member of the tour group. "It was especially moving and humbling to know that the military remembers those who served so honorably in that fashion." "I was aware that veterans can request funeral honors," Mr. Dawson said, "but I wasn't aware of the levels of honors that can be paid or the geography (the Offutt honor guard) covers."