Sentinel At The Tomb Of The Unknowns

Title

Sentinel At The Tomb Of The Unknowns

Artist

David Morefield

Medium

Photograph - Photo

Description

The Tomb of the Unknown Solider Guard Identification Badge is the second least awarded qualification badge in the United States Military, the first being the Astronaut Badge. Out of all of the soldiers who volunteer for this duty, less than twenty percent of them are chosen for training and very few of those actually make the qualification to be a Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Since the first award of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Guard Identification Badge in February of 1958, fewer than 700 soldiers have completed training and been awarded the badge.
Based out of Fort Myers, the Honor Guard at Arlington National Cemetery can be found guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns all day, every day regardless of weather conditions. The Sentinel marches 21 steps in a highly choreographed movement that takes place with exactly the same timing with every pass. The Sentinel executes a “Shoulder Arms” movement at each end of his patrol in order to always keep his weapon between him and visitors of the Tomb of the Unknowns. As the guard executes a facing movement, you can hear his heels clash together while performing his precision drill. Each sentinel marches for 2 hours straight until he is relieved during another precision drill called the “Changing of the Guard.” The mat upon which they march is replaced twice a year due to the fact that it literally gets destroyed by the Honor Guard marching on it with such precision. Their footprints can be seen from a great distance due to the fact that they walk in precisely the same length of step all day, every day.
If you have never witnessed the Changing the of the Guard at Arlington National Cemetery, then it is hard for me to explain the significance of this ceremony.
The Sentinels that march their duty station at Arlington National Cemetery have the honor of showing respect to the Tomb of the Unknowns on behalf of the entire United States military.
When witnessing the Changing of the Guard, I personally reflect on those who never came back to their families and watching the ceremony reassures me that our Country still cares about them.

Uploaded

November 2nd, 2015

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