The United States Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard is a unit of the United States Coast Guard responsible for the performance of public duties. Stationed at the Command, Control, Communication, Computer, Cyber and Intelligence Service Center (C5ISC) in Alexandria, Virginia, the unit was activated in 1962.

History

The U.S. Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard was activated on March 5, 1962 to support Coast Guard ceremonial missions and provide a Coast Guard presence during state occasions, such as the presidential inaugural parade and state and official arrival ceremonies. Prior to this, ad hoc units raised from the Coast Guard Recruit Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey performed these functions. Initially stationed in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, the Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard was redeployed to its current station at the Command, Control, Communication, Computer, Cyber and Intelligence Service Center (C5ISC) in Alexandria, Virginia as of 1965.

Organization

Mission

The U.S. Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard provides – along with similar units from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy,

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...

, and U.S. Air Force – marching platoons for state and official arrival ceremonies at the White House and the Pentagon, for the quadrennial presidential inaugural parade, for annual

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observances in Washington, D.C., as well as for public events (recently including New Orleans Mardi Gras and the Coast Guard Festival in

Grand Haven, Michigan Grand Haven is a city within the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2010 census, Grand Ha ...

). It also provides elements for military tattoos, change of command ceremonies, ship commissioning ceremonies, and its personnel serve as pallbearers, color guards, and firing parties at the funerals of Coast Guardsmen at Arlington National Cemetery. According to the Coast Guard, most personnel assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard serve a two-year tour of duty with the unit and are selected directly from recruit training.

Uniforms

The unit wears the Coast Guard "full dress blue" uniform augmented with the service identification badge, white belt with embossed brass buckle, white aiguillette, and white gloves.

Notable members

* Perry Ellis (fashion designer)

References