The Presidential Salute Battery
The Presidential Salute Battery in Action
Recently, I spent the day at Arlington National Cemetery and captured the Presidential Salute Battery in action as they rendered honors …
I had another camera with me and decided to turn on its video mode. . . combined with a few photos taken before and during the mission and it appears below.
Most people never see them: they are the “Ones that are often heard and rarely seen.” The 3d Infantry Salute Guns Platoon is responsible for rendering honors to visiting foreign dignitaries and heads of state at the White House, the Pentagon, and in the Washington D.C., area. The platoon also fires the final salutes during many funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. The guns platoon is the only unit of its kind in the Army, and its busy schedule includes more than 300 ceremonies each year.
The platoon is equipped with M5s a 3-inch anti-tank gun of WW II vintage. Each gun weighs 5,775 pounds and fires 75mm blank shells. Most ceremonies require a five-man staff and a two-man team for each gun. The two-man team at each gun consists of the loader and the gunner. These soldiers are “indirect-fire infantrymen”
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The Presidential Salute Battery and the 21 GUN Salute
“My grandfather had a 21 gun salute at his burial!” proclaimed the young man …
Much to his error, since his grandfather was neither the President of the United States nor was he head of state of some country, his grandfather didn’t get a 21 GUN SALUTE.
Many people never witness a true “21 GUN SALUTE” … For all the years that John Michael has followed and photographed the Presidential Salute Battery, he has heard/seen very few despite all the missions he has seen/heard/photographed. The command “Fire Three Volleys” is what most people confuse with a “GUN SALUTE” (it’s also been augmented by Trace Adkins’ song “Arlington“)
SO, the next time you attend a military funeral, listen for the command “Fire Three Volleys” for it’s unlikely you will hear the command to fire the “GUN SALUTE”
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