82nd Sust. Bde. Color Guard wins competition

By Sharilyn Wells
Paraglide

	Photo courtesy by XVIII Abn. Corps NCOA From left: The 82nd Sustainment Brigade Color Guard, Spc. Robert Johnson, Sgt. Kevin Mixon, Sgt. 1st Class Danny Ibarra, Spc. Lamarr Allen and Pfc. James Ahern stand in formation. The team won the XVIII Airborne Corps Color Guard Competition.

Being part of a color guard is more then just holding a flag. It’s about protecting your unit’s and country’s pride.

Historically, the unit sergeant major is responsible for the training standard of protecting and honoring the unit’s colors.

On May 25, the 82nd Sustainment Brigade exceeded the standards and was chosen as this year’s winner for the XVIII Airborne Corps Color Guard.

The Soldiers competed in a May 18 competition in which sergeants major from units within the XVIII Abn. Corps evaluated color guards from eight different units to select the team best-qualified to represent the corps.

The units that participated were the 82nd Airborne Division, 16th Military Police Brigade, 525th Battle Field Surveillance Brigade, 20th Engineer Brigade, 82nd Sustainment Brigade, 44th Medical Brigade, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, and the XVIII Abn. Corps’ Headquarters and Headquarters Brigade.

“It’s quite an honor to have the chance to represent the Corps and its Soldiers,” said Staff Sgt. Glenn Gleason from HHB, XVIII
Abn. Corps.
Each brigade participating in the competition provided a four-Soldier team consisting of one national color bearer, one brigade color bearer, two color guards bearing weapons to protect the colors, and one, non marching color sergeant, who called out the commands and movements.

The teams were evaluated in three different areas of responsibility: presenting a professional and polished appearance, uncasing and casing of the colors and presenting the colors in ceremony.
The teams were inspected in every aspect, from proper haircuts to the cleanliness of their weapons and flags.

To uncase the colors, the two flag bearers lower the colors while the other two Soldiers carefully pull the casings off the colors and slowly unfurl the flags. The opposite happens when recasing the flags.

In presenting the colors, the color guards were evaluated on marching, rendering honors and proper procedures.

“It took a lot of practice on our off time to be able to compete for this honor,” said Staff Sgt. Garner Hawthorne, HHB, XVIII Abn. Corps.

The XVIII Airborne Corps Color Guard Competition was established and hosted by the Noncommissioned Officer Academy to select the best-qualified color guard team to represent the corps for one year. The 82nd Sustainment Brigade will be part of any ceremonies and events that the XVIII Abn. Corps is a part of. The team consists of Sgt. 1st Class Danny Ibarra, Sgt. Kevin Mixon, Spc. Lamarr Allen, Spc. Robert Johnson, and Pvt. 1st Class James Ahern.