Passing the Guidon

Wednesday was a big day for our little circus. Jim gave up command of his company in a ceremony held on Wednesday afternoon. Like other ceremonies we've mentioned, it was held on the big, green parade field, with the mountains in the background. For those of you who haven't attended a hundred of these ceremonies in the past, I'll tell you a bit about it. The ceremony (which is basically the same everywhere in the Army) was rather short. In fact, it was just about the right length for the girls; they were mostly quiet and Kathleen sat on her seat very politely, plied with some snacks and some stickers. The ceremony opened with the national anthem, an invocation, and a recitation of the unit's history. Next, short biographies of the incoming and outgoing commanders were read. At most ceremonies the commanders' families receive flowers, but in Hawaii, they receive lei. The girls and I were each given a lei. I wish I'd managed to take a photo of us, because the girls looked darling draped in flowers, especially Madeline, since the white lei was about as big as she is!


To symbolize the change of command, Jim passed the company's guidon to the battalion commander, who then passed it to the new company commander.



Kathleen got rather excited during this portion of the change of command ceremony, and called out, "Mama! Daddy taking turns with the flag! Taking turns!"


After the passing of the guidon, the battalion commander, outgoing commander, and incoming commander each made short remarks. (The incoming commander's remarks are generally the shortest, since all he really gets to say is that all policies and procedures remain in place!) Jim thanked his soldiers and leaders for all their work, reviewing some of the things they'd accomplished, both in Hawaii and Iraq, over the course of his command. After the remarks, the soldiers all sang. No, really, they sing. They sing at every one of these ceremonies. (If you're not in the Army, that seems pretty funny.) The soldiers sang the division song ("We strike like tropic lightning...") and then the Army song. As is usually the case, there was a recorded accompaniment, and the soldiers sang along to that. I think that the company formation couldn't hear the accompaniment, because their singing didn't remotely match up to the music! It was actually a nice way to end -- the silliness of the mismatched timing made me laugh, when I had thought I'd cry.

We were excited that Ben, a friend of ours from Germany, was able to attend the change of command with us. Although Ben and his family live in Maryland now, Ben's still in the Reserves and just happened to be on island for his Reserve duty! We hadn't seen Ben since we left Germany, and it was funny to see him in uniform, because it was as though nothing had changed, although it really has for him! After the ceremony we headed home, and Ben and Jim's First Sergeant (who also changed out Wednesday!) and his family joined us for dinner. It was nice to be able to relax together, knowing that there wouldn't be any middle-of-the-night phone calls and that Jim would have the next day off.

Giving up command is a bittersweet experience for Jim. He has grown close to his soldiers, NCO's, and officers during his time here and in Iraq, and I know there's a part of him that wishes he could stay with them as they prepare to deploy yet again. (The company will deploy to Iraq in the fall, just over a year after they returned home from 15 months in Iraq.) Yet, leaving his company marks the beginning of a new, exciting adventure for us. We're excited to move to California (although Jim insists on calling it the fruit and nut state) and begin graduate school and (most of all) live together as a family.