Knowing When To Salute

摘要

The other morning, about 100 colonels and a handful of civilians assembled for our annual Army War College staff and faculty photo. We were arranged on the outdoor steps of one of the many historic buildings on post and faced the flagpole which dominates the entire campus. Unlike other Army posts, the flag at the Army War College is illuminated day and night and flown continuously eliminating the need for junior soldiers (who are rare at the Army War College) to raise and lower the flag during daily reveille and retreat ceremonies. As the photographer gave final positioning instructions to the crowd, the loud notes of a bugle call suddenly pierced the air. The Army War College, like other military bases, regulates the rhythm of military life with recorded bugle calls. In this case, the music was Retreat which signals the end of the official day. This was odd because it was not even eight o' clock in the morning. The automated bugle call system had been acting erratically the previous week, so this appeared to be another malfunction. The Retreat bugle call was followed immediately by To the Colors which is sounded when the flag is lowered at the end of the day.