LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Mission success for the Joint Base San Antonio Lackland Honor Guard requires motivation, excellence, professionalism and commitment by its members.
For now, the Lackland Honor Guard has an additional necessity: more members.
A manning shortage has the unit constantly struggling to accommodate the high volume of funeral and ceremonial requests.
"We're about 33 percent manned," said Tech. Sgt. David Teets Jr., Lackland Honor Guard NCO in charge. "When the Brooks City-Base Honor Guard disbanded, we took on more responsibility for funeral coverage and split their territory with Randolph. But for the last year or so, our manning has continued to drop, pretty much to an all-time low."
Currently only 38 of the honor guard's slots are filled. Instead of four 30-man flights, the Lackland team operates with three 11-man flights. Members serve one week a month away from their regular job with another week of standby and have two weeks off.
Honor guards from the 433rd Airlift Wing, a Reserve component, and Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency help cover the shortage. AFISR also augments a team for one week a month.
Sergeant Teets recalled a recent day that had the unit scrambling.
"We had eight funerals in one day and couldn't cover them all," he said. "We needed about 25 people and we only had 10 persons on duty. Randolph, AFISR and the 433rd helped, but we were still short.
"We had to call in personnel from our other two flights and apologize to their supervisors for taking them back. It seemed like every time we had it covered that day, another request would come in. It's like an every-day occurrence."
The manpower shortage doesn't alter the honor guard's primary mission of paying respect with military honors for deceased Air Force active duty, veterans or retirees upon the family's request as enacted by Congress.
The secondary mission is to support ceremonial and protocol functions such as cordons for VIPs and weddings, and perform color guard duties at change of command, retirement ceremonies or community-related events.
"We can't turn down funeral (requests)," said Sergeant Teets, who moved to his current position last December from the Military Training Instructor Corps. "We're mandated by law."
In 2010 the Lackland team rendered honors at more than 800 funerals, including over 600 for retirees. While details primarily render honors at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, it's also not unusual to send honor guard teams to locations two or three hours from Lackland several times a week to honor requests in 25 counties around the San Antonio and Central Texas areas.
Staff Sgt. Matthew Knight, who has served in base honor guards since his first assignment nine years ago, said because filling funeral request takes precedence, the shortage affects the unit's availability for its secondary mission.
"(Our members) are working almost as hard as they do in their regular jobs," said Sergeant Smith, head trainer for the unit. "We'd like to do more of those great civic details, but sometimes we have to turn down or cancel when a funeral request comes in at the last minute (from the lack of manpower)."
Airmen through technical sergeants are eligible for the Lackland Honor Guard. Service requires a one-year commitment and supervisory approval.
For more information, contact Sergeant Teets or Sergeant Smith at 671-0992 or 671-2562.