Section 2
Sequence of Events and Individual Actions
12-2. The sequence of events for conducting an honor guard are discussed herein:
At the approach of the person(s) to be honored, the honor guard commander faces about, commands Honor guard, ATTENTION, and then faces about again. The host welcomes the person(s) to be honored on arrival, escorts them to the position not more than 20 steps in front of and facing the honor guard commander and takes their position on the guest’s left. When the person(s) to be honored has halted in their position, the honor guard commander faces about, commands Present, ARMS, faces about, and Salutes.
As the honor guard commander executes the Hand Salute, the band begins the appropriate honors. When a salute battery is employed, the first round is fired simultaneously with the first note of the music and remaining rounds are fired at 3-second intervals. All military personnel in the vicinity of the honor guard formation, except those on security duty, salute during the firing of the cannon salute and the rendering of honors (see AR 600-25).
Note: . If a foreign dignitary’s honors include their national anthem, the sequence of the ceremony is: honors, inspection, and “The Army Goes Rolling Along” concluding the ceremony.
On the completion of the honors, the honor guard commander terminates their Salute, faces about, and commands Order, ARMS. The honor guard commander then faces about.
At this time, the honoree(s) and host march forward and halt three steps from the honor guard commander. The honor guard commander salutes and reports “Sir or Ma’am, the honor guard is prepared for inspection.” The band begins to play appropriate music upon the salute of the guard commander and continues to play until the members of the reviewing party have returned to their posts. The guard commander then guides the honoree(s) and host to the right of the band. The inspecting party passes along the front and rear of the line of troops, to include the salute battery (if used), with the option of omitting the salute battery from the inspection if its distance from the remainder of the honor guard is prohibitive.
The honor guard commander takes a position on the right of the person(s) honored and guides them through the inspection. The host takes a position on the right of the honor guard commander.
The inspection begins at the right of the band. The inspecting party passes along the front rank of troops. Ranks are not opened; the individual members of the honor guard do not come to Inspection Arms or execute Eyes Right.
The members of the inspecting party render Hand Salutes when they pass in front of the Colors.
The inspection terminates at the right flank of the band. The honor guard commander commands Party, HALT. The bandmaster has the band play softly until the reviewing party members begin marching back to their posts. The honor guard commander faces to the half left in marching, takes two steps, halts, and faces about. The host repositions themselves to the left of the honoree(s). When the host is in position, the honor guard commander and the honoree(s) exchange Salutes. Upon termination of the Salutes, the honoree(s) and the host immediately face to the half left in marching and return to their posts. The honor guard commander hesitates momentarily, then faces to the right in marching, and returns to their post.
After the inspection is terminated and the honoree(s) and host return to their positions, the honor guard is given Present, ARMS and the band plays the national anthem. If the honoree(s) is a foreign dignitary, the national anthem of their country is played first, followed by an approximate 3-second drum roll and the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
When “The Star-Spangled Banner” ends, the command Order, ARMS is given. The honor guard commander faces about after the command for Order Arms is given and remains at Attention while the band plays one chorus of “The Army Goes Rolling Along,” beginning at the introduction. At the completion of “The Army Goes Rolling Along,” the honor guard commander salutes and announces “Sir or Ma’am, this concludes the ceremony.” The honor guard remains at Attention until the honoree(s) has departed. The band may play incidental background music while the honoree(s) is being introduced to the staff and other guests.