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Vandenberg honor guard graduates mobile training course
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Twenty-eight Vandenberg Airmen graduated Wednesday after an intensive eight-day Presidential Honor Guard training.
They participated in mentally and physically taxing training provided by a Mobile Training Team from Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C., a unit of the Air Force Honor Guard.
The MTT teaches 15 courses a year with its primary focus on global standardization of military funerals.
"Information can get misconstrued along the way," Airman 1st Class Peadar Clark, formal training instructor for the US Air Force Honor Guard, said. "We're here trying to make sure everyone is on the same page."
The instructors placed Vandenberg Airmen on the same page through repetition of actions and physical training. The instructors were impressed with the ease Vandenberg Airmen showed in learning and retaining what they were taught.
"Over the course of 8 days, the Vandenberg Honor Guard team did somewhere in the ballpark of 5,000 push-ups, flutter kicks, etcetera, as team-building exercises," Tech. Sgt. David Little, assistant non-commissioned officer in charge of the MTT base honor guard program, said.
"Even with all the information and maneuvers these individuals were required to learn, the Vandenberg Honor Guard was one of the sharpest and easiest to train units that I've taught," he said.
The instructors weren't the only people impressed with the Vandenberg Honor Guard. Col. Benjamin Huff, 30th Mission Support Group commander, also spoke highly of the newly graduated team.
"I'm proud to be associated with VAFB's Honor Guard," Colonel Huff said. "They are the USAF's truest ambassadors to America, our fallen military heroes and our honored veterans. No one epitomizes the core values of 'Service Before Self' and 'Excellence in All We Do' better than these professionals. They are the very best Airmen Vandenberg has."
Looking back on the class she completed, Airman 1st Class Carla Morgan, 30th Mission Support Squadron, found the experience tough but invaluable.
"It was a challenging experience," Airman Morgan said. "But, this is important because I believe that everybody should honor service members who went before them."