Jo's Cafe

On July 6th, 2005, Colonel Richard C. Townes took over the reins of the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. My husband is a member of this regiment and so I attended the ceremony.

Military ceremonies are steeped in tradition. Units are formed up on a field along with the band. There are precise movements and actions that happen during this ceremonies.

The sequence of events for the days ceremony were:
Formation of Troops

Invocation
Presentations and Honors
Inspection of the Troops (by both the outgoing and incoming commanders together)
National Anthem

Change of Command
(The outgoing commander hands the unit colors to the incoming commander)

Remarks (long speeches)
Presentation of Flowers (The outgoing and incoming commanders’ wives get roses)

Pass in Review
(All the formed up troops, along with the Color Guard, pass the stands where everyone is sitting with the new commander looking on)

(The CSM is the lone person in this picture)

Playing of the Infantry Song and then the singing of the Army Song
Reception

The skies threatened rain as Cindy was churning her way up the coast, and we had a few sprinkles before everything started, but it all held off once the ceremony started.