Yay! It’s promotion day! Now what?!

Promotions of any type, in any line of work, tend to be happy events.  Military ones are no different.  The biggest difference between a civilian and a military promotion tends to be the “ceremony” involved.  Depending on the rank achieved, the location or the personal preferences of the promoting service member (some choose to forgo a formal ceremony or party all together), it can be as simple as switching the rank on your uniform and going on to a normal work day, to having a informal group ceremony/party or even having a formal ceremony with a Master of Ceremonies, presiding official/guest speakers, followed by a reception to celebrate, all for a single promotee.  This isn’t just exciting for the promoting service member, but for their families and special guests as well.  By the time a service member is experiencing their own promotion, there’s a good chance they have witnessed, participated in or even organized a few.  In short, they tend to have a pretty good idea of what to expect.  That leaves the rest of us (especially the non-prior military spouses, families and special guests) wondering what our role is in what can seem like an event full of military protocol and traditions.  Basically, if you’re a worrier and planner like me, you wake up the day of your service member’s promotion ceremony/party and say, “Yay!  It’s promotion day!  Now what?!”.

I woke up the day of my husband’s (Tyler) promotion ceremony feeling sure of a few things.  The catering/cake was ordered and someone was picking them up.  Tyler’s uniform (his service dress in this case) was dry cleaned and the uniform bling (my term, definitely not his) was correct and ruler straight.  My outfit, and those of our boys, were ironed, hanging, ready to go, and “on point” if I do say so myself.  (Suspenders and bow ties on little boys….Come on!).  So what was I stressing about?  Our role in the entire process.  Do we walk in with everyone else?  Where do we sit?  Who does the actual “pinning”?  Will my toddler raise hell right in the middle of it?  Well friends, I shouldn’t have worried and you shouldn’t either.  Here is a step by step timeline of how it went.  (Keep in mind that the ceremonies can vary, depending on what service member wants.  Tyler’s was pretty typical of what you’d see in a standard promotion ceremony.)

When were first arrived to the squadron (we are an Air Force family)  we went straight to the Commander’s office area.  There, we met with his Commander and the Director of Operations (the Deputy Commander, for my civilian readers) and exchanged pleasantries.

A few minutes before the ceremony began, we (family members and special guests) were seated in reserved seats in the front few rows.  Next, the master of ceremonies, the MC, announced the arrival of the official party.  With that, everyone in the room stood up as the presiding official (in this case, Tyler’s Commander) and the promotee walked into the room.  This is where things can start to differ from ceremony to ceremony.  Some people choose to have an invocation (prayer) said by a guest speaker or to have the honor guard post the flags.  In our case, everyone remained standing while the National Anthem was sung by a very talented duo.  Afterwards, the MC instructed everyone to sit down, with the Commander and Tyler seated in two chairs in the front of the room facing the audience.

The MC then introduced the family members/special guests along with any distinguished visitors (typically those at and above the rank of Colonel).  After the introductions were complete, the Commander stood up to say a few kind words about Tyler while he remained seated.

When he was done, the MC read the promotion order (basically announcing that the promotee had been selected for the next rank and the date it was effective).   Next, he called for the people doing the “pinning” (the boys and I) to come up.  We removed the old rank and replaced it with the new.

     Once that was complete,  Tyler and his Commander stood facing each other, right hands raised, while the Commander led Tyler though the Oath of Office.

Next up, personal remarks from the man of the hour.

As soon as he was done, the MC thanked everyone for coming and invited them to join our family for the post ceremony reception.  (Tyler decided to keep the ending simple, but sometimes people choose to play the Air Force song followed by a formal departure of the official party.)  *Not Shown*  After the MC was done, Tyler presented me with a bouquet of flowers and the boys with small toys.

I would like to thank everyone who had a hand in making Tyler’s promotion ceremony a success!  To his Commander, POC, MC, the duo who sang the National Anthem, the “rescue” photographer, and those who picked up the catering, thank you!  You know who you are (for the sake of privacy, I’ve chosen to leave out their names).  An extra special thank you to our families who flew in from Colorado, Wyoming and Korea for our action packed weekend!

Helpful hints:

• Order your food/cake early.
• Have the service member pick a location, and stick with it.
• Make sure you have people, other than yourselves, to pick up the food/cake.
• Have someone other than a family member or special guests take pictures.  Luckily for us, one of Tyler’s co-workers was taking pictures with his DSLR.  There was a hiccup with our camera, plus its nice for family and special guests to be able to focus solely on the event.
• Try and take pictures of the refreshments before the reception.
• Dress appropriately (to be addressed in a future post).
• Relax, it’s a great day!

 

Coming up next, The Promotion Reception!  To be continued…