Well it was a good run- 10 years. Glad to have been with the initial part of it... and sorry to see it end on a sour note.
I know I haven't been around in a long while, but having been a part of the Colour Guard in its beginning I'd like to throw in my 2 cents.
With respect to the debate on how "military" we were trying to be, I think there needs to be some context and background about how the Colour Guard came to be-
Back in 2006, a USCM flag was created for a specific purpose- to simply help identify the group during the parade. During the first years of the parade (2003 on) we didn't have anyone in an Alien costume. We ALWAYS got called "Starship Troopers" or GI Joe, or frankly anything other than "Aliens" or "Colonial Marines." IIRC it was carried by Tony Leach the first year. There was no Colour Guard, no other flags, and (correct me if I'm wrong) no one even wearing Service Cs.
In 2007 Chris Chulamanis asked if he could carry the flag for the parade that year. He was happy and proud to do it. As Tony did the previous year, he just carried it in his armour.
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In August of 2007 "I" started kicking around the idea of a formal Dress Blues uniform for the USCM. This was received with mixed responses ranging from Sounds Awesome to Don't You Dare.
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In Jan of 2008 Chris Chulamanis passed away after having had a major heart attack.
That year- we decided that we would put together an "Honour Guard" as a tribute to Chris. We would carry the USCM Flag, US Flag and multiple other represented countries. Dom would lead us calling out commands and the group truly attempting to march in step. We wore black FNG (Chris' screenname) armbands.
At the same time, my putting together a Dress Blues uniform took on a whole new (and what I sincerely believed at the time) higher purpose as I would be carrying the USCM flag. It ended up causing some heated arguments- some board members actually quit in disgust. However I was bound and determined to have it ready for D-Con that year for Chris' tribute.
I was the Parade Liason for D-Con back then and when I told the D-Con organizers we had a "flag party", they were ecstatic and placed our group from roughly the middle, to the front of the parade. It was fantastic news as it felt that not only would Chris' tribute be first in the parade line up, but that our group was finally getting the recognition it deserved.
And so we marched for the first time as a unit (with the armoured Marines following in a loose "check those corners" group). We did receive some flak about the order the flags were in. And yes- I got a couple of "Thank you for your service"--- which did make me feel uncomfortable and like an imposter (which was the furthest thing I was trying to do). It was the one and only time I wore my Dress Blues at D-Con, and my only participation in the Colour Guard. In 2009 I went back to being a grunt, and that also happened to be my last Dragon Con.
The following years the Colour Guard became a tradition. Although I had stopped going to DC, I followed the progress- it seemed that there was a need to outdo ourselves from the previous year- more flags, more dress uniforms, staying in step while marching etc. And I did hear the flak of being mistaken for an actual military unit. It was never the intent.
I'm hoping this sheds some light on how this came about.
Kevin