MISSION REPORT: SHORT NOTICE CONFIRMED MISSION: SSgt Brett Carnathan, Active Duty, Iraq, Afghanistan Vet, USAF, Alamogordo, NM, 11-04-2013 The SENM Patriot Guard Riders supported this Dignified Transfer of SSgt Carnathan from Alamogordo, NM to EL Paso International Airport on 4 Nov 13. We had 4 riders at the Funeral home to support the Holloman AFB Steel Talons Honor Guard in removing the remains from the funeral home and placing them in the hearse at 0630 hrs. Riders present were RC Deacon Jim Ernst , Art Rowe, Rich ( Ronda Merrick), and SRC Paul Chez Sanchez. An interesting note for this transfer is something that, in all my years as Honor Guard and Patriot Pep Guardiola , Ive never had happen. Upon arrival at the funeral home I approached an AD SSgt that was obviously the escort for the remains. As the deceased was TACP, I figured that the SSgt in Blues with bloused boots was someone from his unit as thats one of the few career fields allowed to blouse in blues. When I approached to introduce myself, I looked at his name tag and then his face. His name was the same as the deceased and I asked if he was the escort, he said yes. I then asked if he was the brother and if they were twins. They were! Very strange to be looking at the spitting image of the pictures Id seen of the deceased standing in front of me. Not that we treat any detail better than any other, but this brought home an even deeper sense of purpose for me and my team on this detail. It turns out that the deceased was TACP (Tactical Air Control Party), the brother was SOWT (Special Operations Weather Team), and a third brother was former Army, 101st Airborne. How’s that for a military family??!! Art and Rich had appts to get to so we then formed an escort with Deacon Jim leading with his 3x5 American Flag flying off the back of his truck the whole way to El Paso. I followed Jim and then we had the hearse and the SSgt from Mortuary Affairs in his vehicle. Deacon Jim had to peel off in El Paso due to an early morning medical appt at the VA in El Paso. I took the remains through the final stretch to the airport, with my smaller car flags on my front fenders. Upon arrival at the cargo area we were met by the Steel Talons who had gone ahead to prepare for the transfer from the hearse to the airport cart. Note: Southwest Airlines personnel were professional, courteous, and had a special reserved cart prepped for the transfer. Im sure that most airlines do this now, but the cart was painted with the American Flag on the roof of the cart. They were careful to ensure that the casket was placed so that the casket would travel feet first and the Flag on the roof was painted to match that movement. I hadnt been present at this part of the transfer in ELP before so I appreciated this. Once in the hands of the Airlines, the Talons and I departed for the terminal. We had about 2 hours before the final transfer to the aircraft. We were met by the head of security for ELP and were brought into a conference room to wait. They had made a separate room available for the family who were flying later that afternoon. They also provided drinks and refreshments to us. It was first class the whole way. When the time finally came to execute the final stage of our mission, we were escorted thru the terminal to the flight-line. Many of you reading this will not know that my last post prior to retirement was as the NCOIC (Sgt in Charge) of the Steel Talons. So performing this detail with them was very meaningful to me. What was really cool for me was that as we left the room for the flight-line, the Talons, WITHOUT direction or command, automatically formed a column of twos and stepped off with pride. The sound of their heel taps echoed throughout the terminal and brought the whole place to a screeching halt. I was at their rear and found myself automatically getting in step with MY Talons (yep their still mine!!), and trying to not look like a slob dragging along behind them. We marched out to the line, fell out, and prepped for the aircrafts arrival. The jet taxied in and once it was chocked and shutdown, the Talons marched around behind the jet to take their standby position by the cart with the remains. I went around the front with the Colors I carried so as to not wreck the image of those razor sharp troops marching for the public. You could feel the traveling public moving to windows in the terminal to watch the transfer. Once the ground personnel had cleared the cargo hold and the jet was serviced for flight, I marched into position between the cart and the jet at the rear of the jet, facing the front toward the terminal to provide a backdrop for the Talons at work. The Talons marched into place and carried the remains with precision and dignity from the cart to the loader and placed the casket as carefully as possible on to the carrier platform. The brother and the Mortuary Affairs NCO stood halfway along the conveyor belt and as it was moved, presented arms in honor of the deceased. Every person on the flight-line within view, ground crew personnel, security folks, and notably the pilot who had come down for the transfer, all stopped what they were doing and either saluted if they were a vet or placed their hands on their hearts. Such a simple ceremony with such deep meaning. The Talons then marched back to the conference room, once again shutting the whole place down as we went thru the public area. More than one of the personnel with us later said that the simple act of that march gave them goosebumps. I swear I was almost at the point of tears with pride that my former team still automatically knew how to get er done. We then hung out in the conference room and had the lunch provided by the airport security chief. But the coolest moment was yet to come. The Talons did a quick hot wash of how the detail went, going over how they could have improved and what training they need to work on for the (God forbid) next time. As I had rode with them into the airport I stayed with them so they could bring me back to my truck. When it was time to leave and the team was in their light weight blue jackets (not the formal ceremonial uniform), they all grabbed their garment bags and got ready to go out to the van. If there was a time to just stroll out, this was it. Nope, that’s not how the Talons roll. They all put their covers in their right hands, slung their garment bags over their left shoulder and once again without discussion or command, formed a column of two’s and marched out thru the terminal and baggage claim. I’m sure that there are divots in the tile from the way those young Amn rolled out heel taps digging in all the way. They were so tight on the way out that when we came out of the side hallway and into the main thoroughfare one civilian snapped his head to see what the noise was. He then snapped to attention and took off his hat and put it over his heart as we marched by. Too cool. In conclusion this was a solid mission and I was proud to be a small part of it. It was great to see that the flame still burns in our young troops and the pride is still there. I was honored to be present and look forward to the next time I get to be part of anything my former team does. Rontera TiffanyAnastasia Powell (current Operations Tech for the Talons), please pass this to others on the team and let them know how proud I am of them. They made an old fart retiree PROUD. Tell them I said, “First Time, ONLY Time! Represent! HUA!”
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 16:50:59 +0000
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