Wing Airman named top Reserve honor guard member

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Paul Flipse
  • 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  A 920th Rescue Wing reservist has been chosen as the top honor guard Airman in Air Force Reserve Command.

Tech. Sgt. Thomas Tantius, a services craftsman with the 920th Force Support Squadron here, received the AFRC Honor Guard Member of the Year for 2014.

"I'm very humbled," said Tantius on being selected for the award.

A member of the Patrick AFB Honor Guard since 2012, Tantius now occupies the staff NCOIC position there, which means he oversees a 48-person unit credited with being the busiest honor guard unit in the command.

The facts are staggering. In the last three years, the unit has averaged more than two funeral ceremonies per day, including 866 in the last year alone.

In addition to the sheer volume of work, the physical demands can also be extreme. Honor guard members are required to remain perfectly still for much of the ceremonies they perform. According to Tantius, the longest he and his team had to remain still in one stretch was 70 minutes during a funeral.

But for Tantius, the long hours, physical demands and hard work are a means to an end. For him, they provide a rare and valuable opportunity not afforded many Airmen.

"When I give a flag to the family, it creates closure for them," he said. "I'm humbled to be able to say 'thank you' to their loved ones for their service."

Military funeral honors are guaranteed by the Department of Defense to any eligible servicemember. But all other evens - retirements, changes of command, etc. - are voluntary for honor guard members. Which means, anytime the honor guard provides their services for any event other than a funeral, they are there because they chose to be there, to lend their colors as a donation to the ceremony taking place.

In addition to managing the honor guard through the grueling funeral schedule, Tantius also directed 11 events that were nationally televised, such as an Orlando Magic game where he led a 5-man colors team, which were watched by more than 80 million people nationwide.

This type of recognition isn't new for Tantius. In 2013, while a member of the Air National Guard's 114th Range Operations Squadron here, he was named the Unit Honor Guard Program Manager of the Year.

But, in spite of his success, the Pennsylvania native sees it as a reflection on the Patrick AFB Honor Guard as a whole instead of it being just about him.

"The reason I won this award is because of the people who work for me," he said. They have passion, duty and selflessness. We've done more than 2,400 funerals in the last three years. If I didn't have such a great team around me, I never would've won."