Visualizing the Inauguration

(MSgt Cherie McNeill is on temporary duty from PACAF to assist the military support to the Presidential Inaugural)

We are fast approaching “I Day." I'll be reporting to the Mary Switzer building at 0130 to begin my very long day…I’m not sure what we are doing after January 20^th.

I arrived in Washington DC on Saturday, January 3rd. We began our first week with mass in-processing, a walk of the parade route, admin appointments, and ended the week with the full dress rehearsal on Sunday. It was cold but not as cold as this week. I’m staying in Alexandria with about 30 other Air Force personnel. There are 5 of us from Visual Information in the same hotel and we try to commute on the metro to and from work together. It takes 30-40 minutes to commute to the Switzer building for work. It’s not too bad once you figure out the correct metro stations. We have a ‘pig trail’ through the Capital Gallery building and then walk 2 more blocks to the Switzer building. The walk is fine... until the wind starts to blow!

We'll be having meetings on Monday to go over any last minute changes. The city of Washington DC is closing most bridges and roads; the weather is supposed to be cold with a chance of rain or snow; the local news is reporting record numbers of people (1.5 – 4 million possible). I don’t know what else can be added to our plans…I’m excited to be participating in this slice of our history. We represent all service members at home and overseas. I'm thankful I was chosen to participate in this special TDY and I'm enjoying the day-to-day bustle of this high-paced electrifying experience. I have my foot and hand warmers and I'm ready to put all of my learning to work.

I graduated from DINFOS in December as a new Air Force Broadcaster. I'm also an Air Force photographer and I think having both careers has given me a unique appreciation for what both jobs require... Our photographers and videographers are a great group of people with various levels of experience. We have been busy documenting military band practices, color guard practices, and marching unit practices. Some members of the public affairs/visual information team arrived in December and they documented the early stages of setup. We’ve been interviewing as many people involved in the inauguration as possible. The first members of the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee arrived almost a year ago to plan the inauguration.

Historically, as many as 5,000 service members have participated in Inauguration Day, both in view of the public and behind the scenes. The support is traditionally comprised of musical units, marching bands, color guards, salute batteries and honor cordons, which render appropriate ceremonial honors to the commander-in-chief.

The U.S. military has participated in this important American tradition since April 30, 1789 when members of the U. S. Army, local militia units and Revolutionary War veterans escorted George Washington to his first inauguration ceremony at Federal Hall in New York City. The armed forces’ participation in the inauguration demonstrates our recognition of civilian control of the military and the authority of our new president.

This week we were tasked to produce a 2 ½ minute “Motivational Video” to be shown at the All Hands briefing on Thursday. I was asked to voice the narration for the video. It was ‘sink or swim’ time for me. I relied on all that I learned in DINFOS and got over my shyness to voice the two pages of script that the PAO Commander wrote. I would be lying if I said it was easy! Fortunately my fellow videographer has years of experience behind the camera and was able to help me record my narration with the best sound possible in our limited work space. This video was shown to over 700 AFIC members and at an Officers Wives Luncheon. A copy will be placed in a box for the next AFIC (2013) team to learn from.