Sgt. 1st Class Ken Cowen stared at the regimental pin on the blouse of Spc. Amedee Santamour. Cowen's eyes never wavered as he examined the pin.  Santamour never moved; his eyes fixed on a spot on the wall of the Captain George Fortson Armory on Camp Murray.
Several moments later, Cowen brought out a small metal ruler - calibrated to 1/32nd of an inch - and measured to determine if Santamour's pin was perfectly centered.
Satisfied the red pin was where it should be, Cowen, a senior non-commissioned officer in the Washington Army National Guard (WANG), continued his painstaking inspection of Santamour's Army Service Uniform.
From the top of Santamour's service hat to the bottom of his highly glossed shoes, Cowen took a deliberate and measured approach to his work. "The last button on your blouse is not aligned," Cowen said at one point as he wrote down the discrepancy on an inspection checklist that was a couple of pages long. "You will get that fixed."
The Army Service Uniform, and the Soldier wearing it, must be perfect, particularly when performing Color Guard and Military Funeral Honors (MFH).
The inspection over, Santamour took his blouse, or jacket, off and made minor adjustments.
"The instructors are hard but fair," he said as he put the blouse back on in preparation for another inspection. "Besides, I want them to be hard on me; I only get better."
Once the uniform inspections were over, more tests on drill and ceremony, firing detail procedures and pall bearing responsibilities awaited. Held at Camp Murray, the WANG's Honor Guard Program is a five-day, 40-hour week course that instills the fundamentals of Color and Honor Guard duties.  National Guard units in all 54 states and territories provide the training.
The major thrust of the training centers on the Military Funeral Honors ceremony. The honor represents the country's gratitude to those who have faithfully defended the nation in times of war and peace. For the 11 Army National Guard Soldiers from an eight-state area in the Northwest, the Honor Guard training they received and will use is the way they wish to serve the nation.
 "This duty is the most fulfilling," Sgt. Benjamin Ashworth, another instructor and PEC graduate, said. "The Military Funeral Honor is the last time we can extend an honor to those who have served."
It is projected that the number of military veterans requiring such honors will increase.
"In 2004 we held 48 funerals with military honors here in this state," Bill Graham, the State of Washington's MFH regional director, said.  "This past year, we held over 5,000 military funerals, and there was an Honor Guard at each one of these."
Nationally, the Guard conducted 80 percent of the Army's Military Funeral Honors. Officials expect that nationwide, approximately 643,000 military veterans will pass in 2012. "All are deserving of the final honor due them," Graham said.

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