Sgt. Rachel Mayhill, the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Color Guard's color sergeant, rehearses the 10-member all-female color guard under the watchful eye of Staff Sgt. John Wright, the LRMC Color Guard NCOIC, March 17, at the U.S. Army Garrison ...
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- Mission: Provide a 10-member, all-female color guard for the U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern Women's History Month 2009 Luncheon March 17 at the Kaiserslautern Community Activity Center on Daenner Kaserne.
Time Frame: Less than two weeks.
Difficulties: Yes, there were a few, but Staff Sgt. John Wright, the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center's Color Guard NCO in charge, and Sgt. Rachel Mayhill, the LRMC Color Guard color sergeant, worked together with the 10-member team to make it happen.
"We were really fortunate that everybody who got involved really worked hard and grabbed a hold of the task very easily," said Mayhill, a LRMC Addiction Treatment Facility mental health technician, who has been with the LRMC Color Guard for more than three years. "There wasn't a need for a lot of repetition, and we were able to work on the finer details."
More than half of the members for this event-specific color guard were new with varied degrees of experience on a color guard, said Wright, the LRMC Specialty Care Nursing Section NCOIC, who has been with the color guard for five months.
"The color guard team was superb," said Sgt. 1st Class James Ligons, the garrison's equal opportunity advisor, who helped coordinate the event. "This was by far the most squared away all-female color guard team I've seen in my 12 years of service."
Also requested was a quad-service - Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force - color guard, so at least three members had to put aside what they learned in boot camp and relearn steps and movements to Army standard.
"I think (Wright and Mayhill) are exemplary NCOs for the color guard," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Tracy Carpenter, with the Navy Expeditionary Medical Unit 2009 deployed to LRMC, who carried the Navy flag in the all-female color guard for the Women's History Month event. "They stepped right up to the plate - made sure we were squared-away and looked sharp. They train us well and keep up on the rules and regulations for the color guard."
Practices started shortly after the request was made, and immediately after all the team members were found, Wright said. The new 10-member team practiced for two hours almost every night during those two weeks.
"We covered - during the first couple of practices - marching to make sure their knees are all the way up, and toward the end, we worked on the smaller movements like the hand salute," said Wright, who as the color guard NCOIC is the overall manager, responsible for getting the equipment, scheduling and training.
Size of the LRMC Color Guard varies and is dependent on what is required for the event, said Mayhill. This color guard can accommodate a three, four and even a five-service team - Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard. She added that sometimes German soldiers are a part of the LRMC Color Guard.
The LRMC Color Guard has been requested for changes of command, American and German observances, balls, retirement ceremonies and Friday's NCO Induction Ceremony at the LRMC Heaton Hall.
"It's an honor to be able to take charge of these troops and see them actually perform in these ceremonies," Wright said. "That's the best part - to see all the hard work they do pay off during the ceremony - how sharp they look and how together they move - it's just awesome."
(Editor's Note: Christine June writes for the USAG Baden-Wuerttemberg newspaper, the Herald Post.)
Social Sharing