Among the tri-force ceremonial teams, changing-guard ceremony（guard mounting ceremony） is performed by army, navy, and air force. They rotate the performance at Martyrs' Shrine, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, and Sun Yat-sen Memorial hall. The ceremony often draws a lot of attention from visitors and has become the feature. In addition to the changing-guard ceremony, the honor guards stand in front of the Martyrs' Shrine can tolerate any tricks or jokes yet remain solemn. It is the evidence of its solid training, which is always admired by visitors.
Before Air Force changed its honor guards by the end of June, we interviewed with Air Force lieutenant Chen Tung-Wei, who stations at Martyrs' Shrine. When he talked about how hard the honor guard training was like, he looked proud and honored. We really envy him.

Interview with Air Force lieutenant Chen Tung-Wei	Interview with Air Force lieutenant Chen Tung-Wei	Interview with Air Force lieutenant Chen Tung-Wei	Students experience the training of leaning back against wall

Question 1: During guard mounting, how many people are in one team?
Answer: The ceremonial guards change every hour. One team is consisted of five persons. Standing in the front is the head of ceremonial guard, a position where everyone takes turns. The rest of four persons are ceremonial guard for the palace and the entrance.
Question 2: After 5 o'clock in the evening, what do guards wear?
Answer: Martyrs' Shrine opens from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. After 5 p.m., the iron gate is set in and we wear camouflage suit. In the evening, it's called armed sentinel, and in the daytime, it is ceremonial guard sentinel.
Question 3: For those soldiers station at Martyrs' Shrine, what do they do after it's closed at 5 p.m.?
Answer: After the shrine is closed at 5 p.m., except for the armed sentinel guards, others wear sports suit and may play basketball at the field behind the shrine. After dinner, they'll continue the training of guard mounting.
Question 4: How do you train the agreement for a five-man ceremonial guard team?
Answer: Ceremonial guards are highly selected at the army where they are from. Usually, they'll try to reach to a certain level of agreement, and then measure the length of their footsteps and marching speed. Basically, those with better agreement will be assigned in the same team. But that may not always be the case, because of holidays and leaves. Therefore, our partners are subject to change from time to time.
Question 5: How long is the guard mounting training?
Answer: Eight months. The first six months are for basic training, while the later two months are honor guard movement training. After the training comes selection process.
Question 6: Does the suit of tri-force ceremonial guard change according to seasons?
Answer: What honor guards wear is called “uniform.” Army and Air Force wear the same uniform, while navy wear white uniform in summer, and black one in winter.
Question 7: Are the steps of the tri-force honor guard the same?
Answer: The patterns of gun parade march are different according to military forces.
Question 8: What are the basic movements emphasized during training?
Answer: Practice how to lean your back against the wall straightly. With your head against the wall, looking straight ahead, bend your shoulders back and tuck in your chin. Have you legs and feet stood tight against each other, suck in your stomach to lean back against the wall. There should be absolutely no space between your back and the wall. Sometimes you have to stand like this for an hour or two. You also have to practice your grip because you need to handle a gun.
According to Chen, once an old lady who was watching the honor guards and insisted that the guard be a fake man. They just couldn't resist the idea of bursting into laughter, but they had to hold the thought while they were on post. After watching guard mounting several times, we discovered that there are seven guards during the first shift at 9 a.m. and last shift at 5pm in the afternoon. This is because there is no need for rotation during the first and last shift.
What's the most exciting to see during guard mounting is the formation changing process and gun-handling stunt performance. As we walked passed by the guardroom after the interview was over, we looked back on the guards once more, for they have left a deep impression on us for the day.

Photo with Air Force honor guard	Lieutenant Chen Tung-Wei introduces us accessories	Five persons in one honor guard team	Armed sentinel in camouflage dress

Website Translated by Ou Yang Pei-ting( Top )