Honor guard provides military services

Nevada soldiers conducted more than 1,000 funerals during 2022

A Nevada Army Guard Honor Guard carries the coffin of World War II pilot at an August military funeral at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Lt. Lowell Twedt died on Oct. 20, 1944, German artillery shot down his plane. His remains were identified in 2019.

By Sgt. 1st Class Erick Studenicka

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

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Mission: Impossible.

The title of the 1960s television series on covert operations and the Tom Cruise-franchise of action-spy films could also succinctly describe the seemingly impossible task the small number of Nevada Army Guard Honor Guard soldiers face this year.

With just six full-time soldiers (and one full-time civilian administrator), the honor guard anticipates supporting 1,150 missions in 2022.

As improbable as the upcoming total sounds, it’s entirely conceivable after the squad supported a record 1,013 missions the previous year. That total surpassed the 2019 record of 911 missions and was a 27.5 percent increase from 2020’s tally of 729 missions.

Most honor guard missions entail military funeral honors for either deceased active servicemembers or military veterans. The vast majority of missions for the Nevada team, though, involve U.S. Army veterans. By law, all military veterans released from duty in any status other than dishonorable are eligible to receive basic military funeral honors; a basic military funeral honors detail includes two servicemembers (one of whom must be a member of the deceased’s parent service of the armed forces) who play taps, fold the U.S. flag and present the flag to the deceased’s next of kin or designee.

Full military honors are reserved for certain ranks — those killed by their injuries in combat and Medal of Honor recipients. The full honors require seven to nine personnel to act as pallbearers, fire a rifle volley salute and perform the requisite basic military honors duties.

During many funeral ceremonies at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, for example, the guard’s ceremonial team could consist of at least two soldiers or up to eight on most occasions. On smaller funerals, two soldiers unfold and then refold the U.S. flag and present it to a family member. On larger funerals, the entire honor guard will take care of the casket.

With few active-duty bases or soldiers in Nevada, the Department of Defense allocates the Nevada Army Guard an annual — arguably shoestring — budget to support the mandated military funeral honors for the state’s veterans. More than 200,000 veterans are currently residing in Nevada, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The constrictive budget combined with the aging veteran population in Nevada resulted in a remarkable schedule for the honor guard soldiers in 2021. The four honor guard soldiers in Southern Nevada supported the staggering number of 765 military funeral honors missions last year; the two based in Northern Nevada supported the nearly-astonishing number of 248 missions.

The number in Southern Nevada will almost certainly increase dramatically because the Nevada Army Guard will support the northern Arizona region this year, including funerals in Bullhead City, Kingman and Lake Havasu due to the area’s close proximity to Southern Nevada.

Funeral Honors Program administrator retired Command Sgt. Maj. Jim Richardson said the recent COVID-19 pandemic was not a primary contributing factor to the high number of missions in recent years.

“The increasing average age of the nation’s veterans is the main reason for our ever-increasing anticipated numbers,” Richardson said. “Our Vietnam-era veterans are in their 70s and 80s. Even the majority of our Cold War and Persian Gulf veterans are approaching senior citizen status.”

Additionally, the honor guard also performs honorable transfers and often participates in community memorials, color guard events and numerous military- and joint-organizational training events.

To meet the mission requirements, the handful of full-time soldiers is supplemented by volunteer soldiers placed on Active Duty for Operational Support orders. The honor guard often relies on about two dozen dependable volunteer soldiers who have received basic honor guard training to support missions.

One fact that few realize is that every soldier in the Nevada Army Guard is eligible to support Military Funeral Honors missions; new volunteers will receive personalized individual training before their initial missions.

Soldiers who volunteer for Military Funeral Honors duty receive military pay and retirement points; the soldiers who complete advanced Level 2 training receive an honor guard tab and an honor guard shoulder cord.

Steve Ranson/LVN
Sgt. Constance Aguilar of the Nevada Army Guard Honor Guard presents the U.S. flag at a military service conducted at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in 2021.

“Military funeral honors support is one of the best ways a soldier can contribute to the community,” said Sgt. Christina Aguilar, the NCOIC (noncommissioned officer in charge) for the Northern Nevada Military Funeral Honors squad.

The other full-time soldier in Northern Nevada is Spc. Reid Hallam of the 422nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion. Hallam has been recognized as one of the best Honor Guard Soldiers in the nation after receiving the Distinguished Honor Graduate Award at the National Level 2 Honor Guard course.

Aguilar added it’s important for the funeral team to conduct the ceremony with dignity and precision. After each ceremony, she said the team meets and reviews their participation in the funeral.

During the past two years, Aguilar said the funeral team conducted a very moving ceremony in August 2020 when a World War II pilot was honored and then interred at the NNVMC.

Lt. Lowell Twedt died on Oct. 20, 1944, when German anti-aircraft downed him and two other P-38J Lightning pilots from the 71st Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group near Bolanzo, Italy. The honor team provided Twedt with full military honors at the NNVMC.

“That was a big ceremony for us, something we hadn’t done before,” Aguilar said. “For everything he (Twedt) had done, it was truly an honor.”

First, the honor guard and family assembled on the south ramp in late July 2020 at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. The smartly dressed soldiers carried Twedt’s casket with snap precision from flight 1782 to a waiting hearse.

During the actual funeral ceremony and after two members of the Nevada Guard honor team folded the U.S flag that draped Twedt’s coffin, the guard’s casualty assistance officer, Capt. Justin Klatt, presented the flag to the lieutenant’s son, William Twedt of Reno, who clutched stars and stripes to his chest.

Twedt was laid to rest in the southeast section of the NNVMC.

For the honor guard, another mission successfully ended.

Sgt. 1st Class Erick Studenicka is a public information officer for Joint Force Headquarters in Carson City.

Honor guard provides military services

Nevada soldiers conducted more than 1,000 funerals during 2022

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