Honor Guard or Cordon

In general, honors and ceremonies are reserved for the President, Vice President, statutory appointees, general or flag officers of the US military, foreign dignitaries occupying positions comparable to these US officials, and for occasions which such ceremonies promote international goodwill.

Distinguished persons, who are entitled to honors, are shown in the Table of Honors. This table includes those honors prescribed for statutory civilian and military officials of the Department of Defense and does not apply to Civil Service Employees. The intent of honors is to extend a mark of courtesy to a distinguished person (honors will be accorded only to the distinguished person him or herself and not to his or her personal representatives.) Honors are accorded to an individual rather than a group. A committee or delegation is honored in the person of the senior or ranking member.

Unless otherwise directed, full honors must be accorded the President of the United States when he arrives at or departs from any Air Force installation, regardless of the day or hour. Except for the President, honors are not accorded between retreat and reveille, on Sundays, or on national holidays (except Armed Forces and Independence Days), unless the officer directing the honors believes the occasion requires an exception. A distinguished person arriving at an Air Force installation at a time honors are not accorded may be honored at a later time if he or she desires it. When two or more persons entitled to honors arrive or depart from an installation at the same time, only the senior receives honors. If they arrive or depart successively, honors are paid to each in turn, except that a senior must be notified before the installation accords honors to a junior. Any official or officer holding two or more positions (civilian or military), any one of which entitles him to honors, receives only the honors due the highest grade; he or she may not be honored in more than one capacity. (For more details, see AFR 900-6.)