Rules for ceremonial firing

[jerry]

Rules for Ceremonial Firing
For ceremonial firing, the firing party consists of not more than eight riflemen and not less than 5 with one noncommissioned officer in charge (see 'Till Wheels Are Up! Chap 17, figure 21-1).
The firing party is normally pre-positioned at the gravesite and facing in the direction that allows it to fire directly over the grave. However, care should be taken to ensure that rifles are fired at a 45-degree angle from the horizontal.

· To load:

· Magazines or clips are loaded with three rounds and blank adapters are attached before forming the firing party.

· At the conclusion of the religious services or on the escort commander's command, the noncommissioned officer in charge commands With blank ammunition, LOAD. At the command LOAD, each rifleman executes port arms, faces to the half right, and moves this right foot 10 inches to the right to a position that gives him a firm, steady stance. He then chambers a round, places the weapon in the safe position, and resumes port arms.


· To fire by volley:

· When the riflemen have completed the movements and the weapons are locked, the commands are Ready, Aim, Fire. At the command Ready, each rifleman moves the safety to the fire position. On the command Aim, the rifle is shouldered with both hands with the muzzle to the front at an angle of 45 degrees from the horizontal. On the command of execution Fire, the trigger is squeezed quickly, and the weapon is immediately returned to port arms.

· To continue the firing with weapons that function automatically (blank adapter), the commands Aim and Fire are given and executed as previously prescribed. To continue firing with weapons that must be manually operated to chamber another round (without blank adapters), the commands Ready, Aim, Fire are given. On the command Ready, each rifleman manually chambers the next round. The commands Aim and Fire are then given and executed as previously prescribed.

· When the third round has been fired and the rifleman have resumed port arms, the noncommissioned officer in charge commands Cease Firing. The riflemen immediately place their weapon on safe, assume the position of attention (at port arms), and face to half left. From this position, the firing party is commanded to Present arms before playing of "Taps." After "Taps," they are commanded to order arms. The noncommissioned officer in charge executes a right (left) face and remains at attention until the flag has been folded and saluted by the officer in charge or noncommissioned officer in charge of the funeral detail. At this time, the firing party noncommissioned officer in charge executes a right (left) face and commands Right (Left) Face; Port, Arms; and Forward, March. The weapons are unloaded and cleared as soon as possible after leaving the gravesite.

[Dale]

I assume that those rules apply only to military?

Heck, I'd be LUCKY if I got five riflemen together for a VFW parade color guard.

We usually have the US flag bearer, one each bearing the VFW, VFW Auxiliary and the American Legion flags. (we have a combined post) and two rifles on each side of the line.