AUGUST 22, 2024 – History was made on Aug. 16, as six Space Force students out of basic military training became the first Guardians to graduate technical training at the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.
The graduates, five men and one woman, completed the nine-week training with 12 of their fellow Airmen.
“This is a special day for the Air Force and Space Force. These ceremonial guardsmen represent what all our Airmen and Guardians are doing all around the world, past, present and future,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Ryan A.F. Crowley, JBAB and 11th Wing commander. “We look forward to seeing them thrive in our Air Force and Space Force, we’re proud of them.”
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Peter E. Mask, commander for the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard, applauded his new ceremonial guardsmen for the extraordinary achievement.
“Today is historic. It’s the first ever combined Air Force and Space Force graduation, and we are extremely proud of the graduates who worked very hard,” Mask said. “It’s been an inspiration to watch them from outside the window on the campus, you can feel the energy there, and you can even feel the energy here at the graduation – it’s electric.”
The graduating class, Class 24 Delta, is a first on two fronts. It is the first group of Guardians to complete the nine-week course that ran from June 17 to Aug. 16, and the first U.S. Air Force Honor Guard technical training class to combine two military branches. Mask pointed to a few nuances that play into the historic nature of the graduation ceremony.
“It’s interesting that this ceremony corresponds to being just two weeks shy of the one-year anniversary of us actually crossing the first 16 Air Force [Airmen] over to become Space Force Guardians,” Mask said. “That, along with this class being Class 24 Delta, with delta being a Space Force term, shows the different Space Force touchpoints tied to this class.
“We are happy that they graduated, and we look forward to them serving as we prepare for the inauguration. We are excited to see them represent their service in the days ahead,” Mask said.
Featured speaker at the graduation, U.S. Space Force Chief Master Sgt. Abifarin Scott, Space Force chief of enlisted development, expressed his appreciation for the learning, training and discipline the trainees go through to become ceremonial guardsmen.
“They represent the best of all of us,” Scott said. “We all go from civilian to service member and every branch has its own basic training or boot camp where you start to learn what it means to be a Soldier, Sailor, Airmen, Marine or Guardian. But, once you leave the training environment, that training starts to slip, but not here. In fact, here, they tighten it up so much, that only a few can do this.”
Blending Two Branches
While both the Space and Air Force honor guards share the same mission, bringing over another military branch requires some level of adjustment in how the technical training is delivered, according to Sgt. Sergkei Triantafyllidis, a technical instructor with the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard.
“Our primary mission is the same, and that is to perform funerals at Arlington National Cemetery, so is this regard the course is exactly the same,” Triantafyllidis said. “There are minor differences [between the branches], for example, on the Operational Camouflage Pattern uniform, [the Space Force] has the national flag with the union in the left top corner, and because the union needs to be to the front, they wear it on a different shoulder. The Space Force wears theirs on the left shoulder and the Air Force wears theirs on the right shoulder.”
In addition, Triantafyllidis pointed out that the Space Force ceremonial guardsmen wear a Delta symbol on their ceremonial dress uniforms whereas the Air Force ceremonial guardsman’s uniform displays a Hap Arnold device.
Triantafyllidis regularly briefs his Air Force instructor counterparts on the Space Force core values to ensure the newly enlisted Guardians are grounded in their branch’s culture.
The U.S. Air Force Honor Guard technical training course emphasizes military core values and culture, and it multiplies what students already learn in basic military training. It involves learning a series of drills, has a greater focus on attention to detail, includes drilling with the M14 and M1 rifles and provides trainees with specific guidance when operating in joint service formations. The course covers the history of the unit, the 11th Wing, ANC, specialized military protocol for funerals, arrivals of foreign dignitaries, U.S. presidents and preparation for state funerals and inaugurations.
Finding Excellence
Prior to the start of the course, U.S. Space Force Honor Guard leadership combed through 143 basic training recruits before it identified 38 who were eligible to apply to join the newly formed ceremonial flight, explained Senior Master Sgt. Matthew P. Massoth, Space Force Honor Guard senior enlisted leader.
“We went down and recruited them from basic military training, and they volunteered to come here,” Massoth said. “They were planning to become a cyber Guardian, a space or intel specialist Guardian. Six of them volunteered to put a pause on that and come out to the Honor Guard for two years.”
Several basic training Guardians in basic military training expressed interest in not only becoming a ceremonial guardsman with the Space Force Honor Guard, but also in being a part of history as one of the first Space Force members to graduate the Honor Guard technical training school at JBAB.
“There was a lot of interest, but some of them were dead set on doing the job they signed up for,” Massoth said. “For the remainder that were still interested in volunteering, they really connected with the mission and why the Honor Guard exists. They also wanted to be in that first group on the ground floor in making a new unit. That was something that a lot of the young Guardians connected with.”
For new Space Force Guardians somewhat familiar with military life and culture, joining the Honor Guard offers an opportunity to acquire valuable soft skills and some hard-to-learn skills like attention-to-detail, time management and being hyper-focused on the little details. These skills will serve them well as they advance in their military career, Massoth said.
“They will take all of those skills along with their maturity acquired over their two years in the military and, we predict, that they when they get to their tech schools it will be much easier because they have already adapted to the military way of life,” Massoth said.
The Space Force places a high emphasis on technical skills and abilities and many Guardians may not be afforded several opportunities to lead. However, spending a few years with the honor guard provides that opportunity.
“A lot of our Guardians across the Space Force are technical experts, they are very good at what they do,” Massoth said. “But they don’t really have the opportunity to lead, to be up front and interact with senior leaders. Here, from day one, our Guardians are expected to lead, they are expected to interface with a four-star general, to be able to talk to the chief master sergeant of the Space Force, to be able to provide a briefing, to know how to operate at those levels, so when they show up at their bases, they will already be quite advanced on that side of things.”
The Space Force has been working to establish its heritage and history since it began in December 2019. The graduation of Class 24 Delta has increased its total honor guard members from 15 to 33 as of August 2024.
Going forward, technical training classes at the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard on JBAB will continue to include trainees from both the Air Force and Space Force. After graduation, the Guardians will be assigned to the U.S. Space Force Honor Guard, a separate flight within the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard command.
Ten Guardians have already been recruited from basic military training and they are expected to start their technical training in August 2024, Massoth said.
By Robert W. Mitchell
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling Public Affairs