The Commander-in-Chief's Guard – also known as the CINC Guard but officially Company A, 4th Battalion, 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment – is an infantry unit of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

that also has

public duties Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role. Armenia Since September 2018, the Honour Guard Battalion (Armenia), Honour Guard Battalion of the Mi ...

and

riot control Riot control is a form of public order policing used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to social control, control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful Demonstration (people), demonstration ...

missions within the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

. Posted at

Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall is a joint base of the United States Armed Forces, located across multiple sites in the Washington metropolitan area, National Capital Region. It is jointly made up of Fort Myer (in Arlington, Virginia, Arlington ...

in Arlington, VA, it is the nominal continuation of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

's bodyguard. The Commander-in-Chief's Guard is designated by the U.S. Army as a "Special Ceremonial Unit" and is part of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, the United States' presidential escort regiment.

History and mission

The original Commander-in-Chief's Guard, from which Company A claims nominal lineage, was authorized on March 11, 1776 and organized the next day at

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

as the bodyguard and personal escort to Gen. George Washington. To the consternation of the revolutionary government in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, it came to be referred to as "His Excellency's Guard" and "Washington's Life Guard"; in April 1777 the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...

warned that the use of such monikers in official communications was prohibited. The Commander-in-Chief's Guard had a fluctuating strength that normally hovered between 180 and 250 men and was disbanded on November 15, 1783. The 3rd Infantry Regiment, of which Company A is part, was activated on June 3, 1784 and deactivated in 1946. In 1948 the regiment was reactivated and tasked with the military defense of the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. The former "ceremonial detachment" of the Military District of Washington, a company-sized public duties unit, was reassigned to the 3rd Infantry Regiment as Company A, 4th Battalion. In December 1973, in preparation for celebrations of the U.S. bicentennial, Company A was designated the Commander-in-Chief's Guard and took its current form. In its public duties role, the Commander-in-Chief's Guard supports general officer retirement ceremonies, state arrivals, and the presidential inauguration. 349jfdkdjf9894

Uniform and equipment

Posted at

Fort Myer Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army Military base, post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and ...

, the CINC Guard is a " Special Ceremonial Unit," a U.S. Army designation for units authorized uniforms other than the

Army Service Uniform The Army Service Uniform (ASU) is a military uniform for wear by United States Army personnel in garrison posts and at most public functions where the Army Combat Uniform is inappropriate. As of 2021, the Army has two service uniforms for use by ...

when executing public duties. Its ceremonial uniform consists of blue greatcoats and white coveralls. Cover consists of black tricorn hats and white powdered wigs. It is equipped with muskets modeled on the Brown Bess (a design first developed in 1722 for service with the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

), instead of the M14 rifle issued to the rest of the regiment for public duties. The CINC Guard advances a flag that is a modified version of the personal position standard of George Washington.

References

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External links

CINC Guard Facebook page
Military in Washington, D.C. Ceremonial units of the United States military Military units and formations established in 1948

History and mission

Uniform and equipment

See also

References

External links