JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- U.S. chaplain and religious affairs Soldiers and Airmen from Joint Base Lewis-McChord came together to conduct dignified transfer ramp ceremony training on the McChord flightline at JBLM, Washington, July 10, 2025.
The JBLM team members, including the McChord Field Honor Guard, utilized a C-17 Globemaster III to simulate the dignified transfer ramp ceremony as closely to a real-world contingency environment situation as possible. The ramp ceremony typically involves escorting fallen service member remains cases onto aircraft for dignified transfers to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, home of Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations.
“A ramp ceremony is predicated on this idea of honoring the fallen,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Daniel Hall, Team McChord chaplain. “In our brief during the training we emphasized that point above everything else. In a contingency environment, you may have to make adjustments on the fly, but a ramp ceremony gives you a way to honor our fallen service members in a small piece of the overall dignified transfer process.”
The training was attended by Army Col. James Foster, Joint Base Lewis-McChord garrison chaplain, and Air Force Lt. Col. Kip Averett, Team McChord wing chaplain, who each gave remarks highlighting the importance of the training and the work that chaplains and religious affairs service members do.