In previous posts from last semester, I wrote about one of the Army ROTC clubs, Lion’s Guard. In case you haven’t seen those blogs, Lion’s Guard is one of the 5 clubs within the Nittany Lion Batallion. Lion’s Guards main goal is to give desiring cadet’s the proper knowledge/practice of Army drill and ceremony and Color Guards. Lion’s Guard can be seen doing color guards at Penn States sporting events like football, volleyball, and hockey. The most famous task of Lion’s Guard being the tradition of  guarding the lion shrine during homecoming week.

Another pretty significant part of Lion’s Guard is beret testing. Each spring semester, Lion’s Guard holds an 8-hour beret test, which gives a cadet privilege to do joint service color guards at football games and earn their beret. Now, a big part of beret testing is being knowledgeable on Arlington history, Army branches and divisions, drill and ceremony, PRT, ranks, songs and creeds, uniform and appearance, and much more history and facts. So, before the beret test Lion’s Guard has a trip to the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. This trip is meant to bring together the club and also give them a personal look at some of the history and facts that they may be asked during the beret test.

This year, I was able to take part in this annual trip. The trip started bright and early on a Saturday morning, with the U.S. government vans packed up with about 20 cadets ready to hit the hay once we hit the road. Once we arrived in Washington D.C., we first went to the White House where we got a tour of the East Wing.

After the White House tour, we were able to go off on our own and explore DC with fellow cadets. Which for me was quite the workout as I rented a very overpriced bike, however, I got to see a lot with my friends. We went from the White House to the pencil to the Thomas Jefferson memorial and to so much more.

The next day we visited the Arlington Cemetery, which was full of memorials and monuments that were significant for our beret testing. We split up in groups and hit certain landmarks in the cemetery. We were informed and enlightened about the tomb of the unknown soldier, changing of the color guards, military bearing, and some specific tombstones or memorials in the cemetery.