I am about to retire from the Guard in WA. Wondering about a ceremony. Retiring as an SSG with 20 years active after a deployment. Days away!!! Just waiting.

But I used to be an active duty O3E for 7.5 years. I got out for one year and some days before joining the guard. Can I still get an officer's ceremony or be allowed to wear my old uniform. OK, that's asking a bit much since it was in the Navy as well, but I heard I can and can't find an instruction.

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Can I still get an officer's ceremony or be allowed to wear my old uniform. OK, that's asking a bit much since it was in the Navy as well, but I heard I can and can't find an instruction.

That would be upto your command. I spent 22 years, seven months and 19 days on active duty. I retired as a CW3. My last assignment was with the 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks Hawaii. The division had a policy that officer below O6 and every EM bellow E9 nine would have participate in the monthly retirement and awards ceremony.

This was before the days of W5 they would not give W4s a separate ceremony. There were four warrants; 1-W4, 2-W3s and 1-W2 retiring in June 1977. They would give the W4 a separate ceremony so all of the warrants refused to attend our the ceremony. On Tuesday before the ceremony on Friday the Chief of Staff for the division called all of us to his office and ordered us to attend. We very respectfully declined. We didn't attend and they never mailed us our final awards.

I never regretted not attending the ceremony. You may notice that O6a and E9s have reserved parking spaces and the exchanges and commissaries, but almost never W5s.

That's odd. The reserved parking spaces I see (here and in the metro DC area PXs and commissaries) are for the handicapped, pregnant women, "Volunteer/Employee of the Month/Quarter," and - very rarely - Any General Officer (Ft. Myer/Ft. McNair) or Any Lieutenant (that one always makes me laugh).

I prefer to park a little ways away - both to get in a little extra walking and to keep my car from getting banged up by carts.

But I digress ... sorry.