Just a little military flag etiquette for the uninitiated.  On US military bases all over the world (except in certain Arab nations), the US flag is raised around sunup and brought down again near sunset.  When the flag is raised in the morning, it is accompanied by a bugle call named "Reveille".  If a soldier (or any other service member;  I will stick with the Army for convenience) is outdoors when the bugle starts to sound "Reveille", he comes to attention, faces the flag (or the sound of the music if he can't see the flag), and salutes until the music stops.  If a soldier is in formation, the person in charge of the formation will call them to attention, command "Present Arms" and the whole formation salutes together.  When the music stops, the person in charge will command "Order Arms" and everyone will drop his salute. 

When the flag is brought down in the evening, the bugle call comes in two parts...the first part is called "To the Colors";  when it stops there is a delay of about five or ten seconds before the second part, "Retreat", sounds and the flag is actually lowered, slowly.   If a soldier is outside and not in a formation, when "To the Colors" begins to play, he comes to attention facing the flag or the music and at the beginning of "Retreat", he salutes and holds the salute until the music stops.  If in a formation, the person in charge, at the sound of "To the Colors",  calls the formation to attention and then puts them at "Parade Rest".  When the sound of "Retreat"  begins, the person in charge calls the formation to attention, commands "Present Arms" and they all hold the salute until the music stops.  The person in charge then commands "Order Arms". 

These two simple ceremonies are conducted every day, 365 days a year, on every military installation in the world.  There are few, if any, variations.  In the case of flying the colors (the flag) at half-mast, the flag is run up to the top of the pole and brought back down to the half-way point.  At "Retreat", the flag is run up to the top of the pole then brought all the way down.  Everything outside stops when "Reveille" and "Retreat" happen.  Little kids on the playground, moms pushing strollers, even cars on the streets stop and everyone gets out and stands at attention...any and all activities come to a halt.  It is really pretty neat.

Now I have to tell you a little about giving commands.  In a company sized formation there are five or six platoons lined up, usually abreast, and the person in charge of each platoon ( a platoon leader - an officer or platoon sergeant - an NCO)  stands about three paces in front and centered on the platoon, facing the person who is charge of the company (Commander or First Sergeant) who is about six paces in front and centered on the whole formation.  They are responsible to give the appropriate commands to effect the ceremonies.  Commands come in two parts...the preparatory command and the command of execution...for example, calling a platoon to attention sounds like this..."Platoon.....At-ten-SHUN".  When the commander starts a command to the company, he gives his preparatory command "Company!"  and the platoon leader repeats the preparatory command to his platoon, "Platoon!" and then the commander gives the command of execution to the whole company and they snap to;  the command of execution is not repeated.  Timing is tricky; "Reveille" and "Retreat" often begin with a formation still not saluting.  Especially in company formations because of the extra preparatory command.  Whew...did you get all that?  As usual, I had a purpose for explaining that;  it makes the rest of it easier to understand.

I was a new guy at the 2nd Squadron of the 14th Armored Cav in Bad Kissingen, Germany.  Most units stand formation for "Reveille" every morning but most don't have a formation every day for "Retreat".  In the 14th we had what they called "Command Reveille" every Monday morning;  that meant everyone had to be there, no excuses, no alibis.  Every Friday evening we held a "Command Retreat", an official end to the week.  It was my first "Command Retreat".  We were in formation in front of the HQ building, which was also the Headquarters Company barracks, in a Squadron formation with companies lined up abreast.  The Squadron Commander, a Lieutenant Colonel, was in front of the formation.  An experienced WWII veteran, the Colonel had already called the Squadron to "Attention" and put us at "Parade Rest" before "To the Colors" sounded...we were ready.  I stood there freezing in the mid-December chill;  it was almost dark, the breaths of hundreds of soldiers creating an artificial fog over the formation,  and I became aware of some snickering in the ranks of my platoon.  I whispered to Walt, one of my roomies, asking what was up.  Walt stared straight ahead but whispered out of the corner of his mouth, "Just wait, you're gonna love it". 

To the Colors sounded and we did nothing, we were already at "Parade Rest"...a short delay...then "Retreat" started.  The Colonel came to attention, faced the formation and called out, "Squad-RON!"  At this point the company commanders looked over their left shoulders to give the preparatory command to their companies...but before any of them were able to say anything, a window upstairs in the building behind us flew open and from inside the room someone with a booming, bellowing voice yelled, "Carni-VAL!!"... To his credit, the Colonel never missed a beat;  he was a professional after all and the ceremony continued to its completion.  There was a lot of snickering and some outright laughter;  my platoon sergeant was threatening us with bodily harm if we made any noise at all...we tried to contain.  When the platoons were released to the control of their sergeants, Stantz, my platoon sergeant,  made the same comment he always made whenever something displeased him: "Somebody's goin' ta JAIL!!"

The troops all called him "The Ringmaster"...the lifers all called him...well...use your imagination, it wasn't very nice.  He had been disrupting the command retreat ceremony for a few months.  Some of the sergeants from the Scout platoon were stationed in the hallways on each floor to catch the Ringmaster, but they never did.  I think I know who it was, but I could never prove it.  And I would never have turned him in even if I could prove it.  He didn't strike every week;  sometimes it would be weeks without a visit, sometimes he showed up two or three weeks in a row.  Rumor had it that the Sergeant Major promised to personally pull the Ringmaster's guts out through his butt and strangle him with 'em.   Eeeewwww.  Anyway, I left in November of the next year, bound for warmer climes;   he was never caught while I was there and after I left, I really didn't care all that much.  It was just one of those Army things that makes a chuckly story. 

At the time I left Bad Kissingen, I still thought the Ringmaster was a pretty comical guy and that the inability of the leaders to corral him was the punch line.  Thinking about it later in my career, I think I fell more in line with the old Sergeant Major's sentiments