Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth awarded an Army serviceman a award on Thursday, one day following the serviceman publically reprimanded the Pentagon chief and his entourage for boisterous behavior near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
Spc. Thomas Iglesias received the Joint Service Commendation Medal for his behavior during Wednesday's Veterans Day observance.
"We affection soldiers. We affection standards." Hegseth wrote in an accompanying social media post. "Well done, Specialist."
These developments have spotlighted the specially selected soldiers from the Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment, known as The Old Guard, who have guarded the nation's most holy armed forces memorial since 1948.
On Wednesday, Hegseth, his wife, and multiple elder aides were posing for photographs near the memorial following a Veterans Day ritual attended by President Donald Trump. As the collection departed, laugh from a associate of Hegseth's gathering could be heard.
"All visitors volition keep an ambiance of silence and regard at all times," Iglesias shouted, stopping his patrol to location the group.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell subsequently stated the serviceman had "correctly and respectfully reminded everyone to keep decorum."
Who guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?
The soldiers who defender the tomb, known as sentinels, are volunteers who undergo a demanding choice and training procedure to acquire among the Army's rarest armed forces badges, the Tomb Guard Identification Badge. Business Insider earlier documented the rigorous training and evaluations soldiers must complete to meet requirements for the role.
Over 735 soldiers have earned the sign since the Army started tracking sentinel numbers. Sentinels must be at smallest 5 feet 8 inches tall. Just eight women have held the job.
Sentinels are on duty at the memorial despite of weather. Each follows a tightly choreographed ceremonial routine. According to Arlington National Cemetery, all sentinel marches 21 steps, pauses for 21 seconds, and repeats the sequence. The figure symbolizes the 21-gun salute, the military's highest ceremonial honor.
The tomb contains the remains of unidentified American assistance members from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.
The soldiers activity on a three-team rotation schedule, operating 24 hours at a time, and wearing wet gloves to enhance the grip on their 1950s-era M14 rifle. Guards are exchanged out all 30 minutes in the summer and all hr during winter. But whenever the cemetery is closed, postings final for two hours.
They are additionally liable for preserving the dignity of the memorial and ensuring visitors detect its strict standards of respect. In a 2022 Army news release, one sentinel stated it's normal to accurate misbehaving visitors two or three times a day.
"It's normally fair them being oblivious," the sentinel said. "They're talking and not realizing how noisy they're being, or laughing or making jokes amongst their group. It detracts from the another group that are trying to pay their respect."
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Kelsey Baker is a armed forces affairs newsman alongside Business Insider. She joined in 2025 and covers armed forces personnel issues and how the armed forces is overhauling how it prepares for forthcoming conflicts.Prior to joining BI, she worked at The Washington Post as a Military Veterans in Journalism Fellow covering individual involvement stories and global news and at The Chronicle of the Horse mag covering equine sports. She holds a alumnus flat in Journalism from Northwestern University, a flat in Diplomacy from Norwich University, and an undergraduate flat in History from the University of Denver. She earlier served in the Marine Corps as a logistics officer, and afterward in the reserve.Contact her via email at [email protected], or via Signal at KelseyBaker75.75. Use a individual email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing data securely.
