CAMP FRETTERD, Md. - The Maryland National Guard brought in the pros June 7-8 as members conducted ceremonial cannon salute training.
Soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Salute Guns Platoon or "The Presidential Salute Battery" traveled to Camp Fretterd, north of Baltimore, to train Maryland Guard Soldiers from the 58th Troop Command on everything related to the ceremonial Howitzer Cannon.
Twelve Maryland Guard Soldiers teamed up with three mentor Soldiers from the Old Guard for the two-day training, which covered everything from drill and ceremony to fire and misfire procedures.
The key to success, according to the Soldiers from the Old Guard, is to remain calm under pressure. "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast," said Staff Sgt. Jeremy Foley, whose one of a kind Army unit does more than 300 ceremonies each year.
The two-person team at each gun consists of the loader and the gunner.
According to Foley, although the gunner actually fires the cannon, the loader has the most difficult job of fitting a 105mm shell into the cannon at just the right angle in the dark. "They must learn to do it by feel and do it quickly," Foley said.
Sgt. Maj. William Hartman, who organized the unique training event, said participating in state and community events like this is critical to the Maryland National Guard because it is a community-based force.
"We tried to stay as close to tradition as the Old Guard does as possible so it looks more professional," Hartman said. We want this event to go off without a hitch and we need this training to be high speed and professional. This team is the face of the Maryland Guard."
While still waiting for the official approval from the Defense Department for this year's event, the Maryland National Guard has participated in ceremonial cannon salutes every year since the early 1970's with the exception of two years; 2007, when the 58th Infantry Brigade Combat Team was deployed to Iraq, and last year during Sequestration.
The Maryland Guard Soldiers are preparing for a ceremonial Independence Day event at Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland, where they will fire dozens of rounds in a carefully choreographed fireworks finale with the Maryland Symphony Orchestra as they play Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture. "
The July 5 concert starts at 7:30 p.m. with fireworks at approximately 9:45 p.m.
Since 1986, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra has presented its free "Salute to Independence" Concert at Antietam, which has been billed as "Maryland's Most Patriotic Event" drawing crowds in the tens of thousands.
The Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It is the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with a combined tally of dead, wounded, and missing at 22,717.