PGR-ANC RC Guide: Overview

Page last changed: 08/12/2008 03:34:38 PM Central Time (server time)


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This document is a set of guidelines for the PGR Ride Captains assigned for Arlington National Cemetery and Northern Virginia (NOVA) PGR missions.

This page provides an overview or map of how the document treats the various stages of a PGR mission, the terminology used, and where in the rest of the document various items are located.

Click Here For Quick Links to All Sections    List of Recent Changes

   (Linked Table of Contents) (Get to things fast)


The Stages of a PGR Mission:  (click the stage heading to go to that section)

  • Getting the Lead         Top Of Page

    "Leads" for ANC missions can come from many sources: an email to the ANC group address for someone in a state PGR organization; notice from the mods that a DoD announcement has indicated ANC burial; an email from a PGR rider or private citizen to the ANC group address asking if we can do an ANC mission; notice from the MODS that someone in PGR has posted a mission plan indicating there is to be a follow-on ANC mission, and more.

    We are constantly "fighting the battle" to get as early as possible notification from the other parts of PGR - letting us know there is the potential (note potential, not confirmation) of an ANC mission - gives us lead time and lets us help the state PGR in some cases.

    This section of the document deals with what to do with each of the various types of "leads", and the implications of each. It also covers the creation of an ANC mission thread (if not already done by the MODs) and how we announce the potential of an ANC mission.

     

  • Uncovering the Details - so you can make a plan         Top Of Page

    Once we have a "lead" we need to dig further to get the specifics of the services that are to be part of the ANC mission, and the dates, times, location(s), and funeral home to be involved, if any.

    Depending on the type of "lead", the degree of homework done for us by the state PGR organization, the type of Hero (KIA or MIA or Veteran or ???) and other factors, the work required, and the steps to take to get the mission details will vary.

    This section deals with those steps and the details needed to make a plan.

     

  • Building the Mission Plan         Top Of Page

    The effort is in the details, and the getting of same. Once we have all that information, the creation of a plan is relatively straight forward.

    This section of the document deals with the creation of a plan from the details already gathered, and the application of guidelines for planning to make a plan.  Guidelines include factors such:  how early do we need to arrive for visitations; where do we stage; do we escort the remains to ANC;  do we escort the family or not (safety and opportunity); do we need military mandated ID & gear, etc, etc, etc.

    This section also discusses a checklist the RC should be using to ensure all facets of the plan have been considered and executed.

     

  • Publishing the Plan         Top Of Page

    Publishing the plan occurs in two steps:

    • Getting the MODs to publish the plan in the mission thread
    • Getting the HQ INFO team to issue Statewide Notices of mission (s)

    These steps, and suggested / preferred formats are covered in this section

     

  • Executing the Plan: Leading - Riding the Mission         Top Of Page

    There are many things the are common between the execution of ANC missions and mission in other venues. There are also some unique things we do at ANC that are different than other venues.

    Guidelines will be documented to cover both the common to all PGR, and the unique to ANC steps in executing the mission once it is planned and published.


This page or section is the repository for links and information that will make the mission to mission process easier. It will also be a source for just "plain old" information that can be used by all - links to ANC, links to the special ANC spots on the PGR site, maps to / from our "favorite" ANC related locations, etc, etc, etc.


  • Roles and Responsibilities with in the ANC PGR Team         Top Of Page

    As we have currently structured the PGR ANC team of Ride Captains, most of the mission planning (those items above except the actual mission execution) is done by the Senior Ride Captain for ANC and NOVA. We decided early on that the Sr RC had the time, skill, desire  and inclination to take on the planning role, and also to ride some / many of the missions, either as the mission RC or just another PGR rider. The other ANC RC's rode and executed the missions as RCs.

    Given the tight time schedules and short lead times for ANC missions, that approach made / makes sense. It is difficult to have enough time to dig out the date and times of services at ANC, then get an RC assigned, and turn the rest of the planning over to that RC. This approach assumed we needed a full plan (dates and times) before the RC's could commit to RCing the mission (thinking mostly of the time needed for actual RCing - riding the mission).

    However, to avoid the "how to cover vacation, etc" syndrome, and to ensure that all the ANC RC's who wish to  can become familiar with and comfortable with executing all phases of a mission, we are undertaking a change in the way we do things. This new approach will maintain the possibility of one RC setting up the mission and another (or more than one other) doing the execution.  The work the Sr RC was doing for mission planning, etc can be spread across other folks - depending on the time they have available. 

    We did it before! Just as Kevin and Brad and Dave initially shared the load of planning (before Brad's new job and unfortunate demise, and before Kevin's return to full time work, and Dave's hogging of it all [BAG] ). We are now looking to share the planning load among many RC's - based on their time and inclination to take on the load.

    The Sr RC will maintain control of the process, will remain the spokes person for the PGR ANC organization, and will direct the assignment of potential missions to the various RCs - so they can do the whole "enchilada"- dig out the details, make the contacts,  make the plan, publish the plan and solicit other RC's to ride the mission, if if they cannot ride the mission themselves. The Sr RC will serve as a mentor while the "new" planners become familiar with the process, pitfalls, etc. And Kevin is a super second source - he's done it!

    The plan is to start as soon as we can with the transition to the new approach, moving slowly but steadily to get to a point where several more members of the team (all who want to) can take on the full role of planning and execution.  As we move ahead, every RC that wants to experience the expanded role will be given a chance to do so.

    Step 1 is the creation of this guide and its dissemination to the ANC team.

    Step 2 is to begin "training by doing" for those wanting the expanded role - recognizing some may not want to take it on or may not have the time.

    Step 3 is on-going execution and then deciding what we wish to do as follow-on.

    The goal is to have several members of the ANC RC group who are able and willing to pick up a "lead" and issue a quick "on it" email to the ANC RC group  (to claim ownership and avoid duplication of effort) - and then to run with the ball, getting whatever help is needed from Dave or Kevin.  Once we get folks comfortable with doing that, we may drop into a mode where the Sr RC takes back some of the load given up - leaving enough to keep folks up on doing the whole process.

    Also - this is a living document, I am not "sensitive" about the content and welcome all to give me suggestions for change.

    Dave Slone, Senior Ride Captain

    PGR ANC and NOVA

    PS - I elected to make this a web based document, so I can get changes made and out fast! This is critical during the early life of the document. It also makes it easier to use - with links between sections, and making it easier to highlight, copy and paste from the document to mission plan emails and state-wide emails, etc. 

    To aid you on proofing and review, I suggest you print off all the sections, lay them out and then go over the who thing - much easier to proof printed material and to make note on the printout.

    As we move along and the document matures, it will be an easy thing to copy all the content into a Word document, do a little format tweaking,  and publish that as a PDF file - if that's what folks want.

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Quick Links To All Sections / Headers:

Getting the Lead

Create a Mission Sheet  

State PGR Involved  

Direct to ANC                  

Find the CAO Yourself

Building the Mission Plan

Plan Checklist               

Plaque   

Info Needed                  

Making the Plan  

PGR-ANC Guide: Planning                         

Special Plan Instructions  

Timing Guidelines        

Sample Mission Timing 

Family Escort Timing  

 

 

Executing the Plan

Staging   

Briefing Checklist

Transit from Staging  

ANC Parking

Flag Line / Honor Line Placement

"Traffic Management"

ANC Check-In

Escort Placement / Order

Uncovering the Details

Family Permission        

Key Information  

Escort Information  

Getting Info When No CAO/CACO

Publishing the Plan

Thread Guidelines   

Multiple Missions 

Group Burial 

Mission Plan Guidelines 

Submitting Plans 

Mission Plan Samples

    Thread Create Rqst  

     Mission Plan Rqst 

     RC Update Rqst

Mission Plan Templates 

State-Wide Request  

     Sample State-Wide

Supporting Information

Web Links  

Ordering Plaques 

Flag Holding Rules

Ft Myer: SOP, Directions

 

Tiny URL

 Help Other Regions as RC

Advanced Search of PGR Site

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List of Recent Changes

  • July 31, 2008

    • Updated Briefing (execution)

  • July 27 2008

    • Added  "Must have thread link (publishing)

  • July 14 2008

    • Added Advanced Search (support)

    • Added copy-paste source templates (publishing)

  • July 10 2008

    • Changed parking at Memorial Chapel [executing]

    • Typo repair and some clarifications

  • July 09 2008

    • Added Calling ANC to get service date - time - location in ANC [other key info]

    • Added Calling Murphy's (Liz) to get details of services, times, etc [other key info]

    • Added Change Log (this!)

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