The West Metro Fire-Rescue District and Minnesota Fallen Firefighters Memorial Association (MFFMA) are sponsoring an Honor Guard Clinic at Camp Ripley on Friday, March 28th, Saturday, March 30th and until 13:00 on Sunday, March 31st.

There is a Funeral Ops School during the day on March 28th. You are welcome to come to both of these classes even if you have been there before – content will be very similar to previous years and serve as a great refresher people returning or will be a great learning opportunity for people that have not attended before; fill out both registration forms (see below) if you plan to come to both classes (we manage these classes separately).

The class details are:

The West Metro Fire-Rescue District and Minnesota Fallen Firefighters Memorial Association (MFFMA) are sponsoring an Honor Guard Clinic presented by Honor Guard Clinics and Schools, LLC.  The Honor Guard Clinic will be held at Camp Ripley the weekend of March 28-30, 2025.  This clinic is open to all Public Safety organizations regardless of whether you have a formal Honor Guard team.  The information and training in this clinic will benefit anyone from those with no Honor Guard training to the seasoned professional.  Topics to be covered include:

  • Basic and advanced drill and ceremonies (facing movements, marching and saluting)
  • Posting, and retrieving of the colors (single or multiple flags)
  • Posting, changing and retrieving of casket guards (one or two guards and final salute)
  • Casket team operations (pall bearer operations, casket movement, flag folding, loading and unloading)
  • Basic and advanced planning for all types of honor guard operations (vehicle and personnel staging)
  • Funeral operations

You may send an individual member or an entire team to this training.  The cost is $75 per person; this includes training, meals (breakfast Saturday and Sunday; lunch Saturday & dinner Saturday) and lodging at Camp Ripley both Friday & Saturday night.  There will be 12 hours of training; 1 hour Friday night 7-8pm, 7 hours Saturday 9am-5pm & 4 hours Sunday.

For more information contact Assistant Chief Joel Nelson at 763-230-7007 or jnelson@westmetrofire.com.

Flyer and Registration Form:

Honor Guard Clinic Informational Flier 2025Download
Honor Guard Clinic, Registration Form, 2025Download