STUDENT HANDOUT (JUL 2004)

OUTLINE

1. DUTIES OF THE INTERIOR GUARD

a. The Interior Guard is established by the Commanding Officer to provide internal security for his/her unit. The area that is being guarded is known as a post.

b. Purpose of the Interior Guard: (Keyword: POPPER)

(1) Preserve Order - you are responsible for preventing any disturbances on your post.

(2) Protect Property - all property, particularly any government property, must be protected for at all times.

(3) Enforce Regulations - guard personnel ensure any and all regulations such as general orders, MCOs, Base Orders, policies, etc., are adhered to by all personnel at all times.

(a) What this means is that order will be maintained, rules will be enforced, and all property within the command will be protected.

c. Fire Watch

(1) Barracks security is commonly called fire watch.

(2) While in the Marine Corps, you will be assigned the duty of fire watch. You will memorize, understand, and comply with all general orders and any special orders issued.

(3) The fire watch's post is a walking post. Therefore, you must be shining brass or writing letters. Your alertness on fire watch might stop a thief or prevent an injury.

(4) The duties of a fire watch are very important, as you are responsible for the safety of all personnel and security of all the personal and government property in your living area.

2. GENERAL AND SPECIAL ORDERS

a. There are two types of orders that the interior guard operates under. They are general and special orders. Together these orders govern all sentries on post.

b. General Orders. There are eleven general orders, all of which are designed to aid a sentry in walking his post. Commanders may delete specific portions of these orders if they do not pertain to particular posts. Failure to comply with any general order while performing duty as a sentry is a serious offense and is punishable under the UCMJ. All Marines and recruits are required to memorize the eleven general orders.

GENERAL ORDERS

(1) TO TAKE CHARGE OF THIS POST AND ALL GOVERNMENT PROPERTY IN VIEW.
As a sentry, you are a direct representative of the members of your guard chain of command, and ultimately, the commanding officer. You are the senior man aboard your post, unless other ranking members of the guard or the commander are present. You will halt and detain all persons on or near your post whose actions are subject to suspicion. You will immediately report any unusual or suspicious occurrence to the corporal of the guard. The limits of your post are contained in the guard orders. If you're not sure what they are, ask the corporal of the guard before being posted.

(2) TO WALK MY POST IN A MILITARY MANNER, KEEPING ALWAYS ON THE ALERT AND OBSERVING VERYTHING THAT PLACES PLACE WITHIN SIGHT OR HEARING.
The "cardinal sin" you can commit as a sentry is falling asleep on post. Guard duty can become extremely boring and repetitive, however, it is your duty to stay alert. The guard orders for your post will prescribe whether you walk, stand, ride or sit. In any case, you should carry yourself in a proper military manner and remain wide-awake and attentive at all times.

(3) TO REPORT ALL VIOLATIONS OF ORDERS I AM INSTRUCTED TO ENFORCE.
You are duty bound to report all violations of orders pertaining to your post to the corporal of the guard at the first opportunity. You will apprehend the offender, if necessary.

(4) TO REPEAT ALL CALLS FROM POSTS MORE DISTANT FROM THE GUARDHOUSE THAN MY OWN.
When posts are located within hearing distance of each other, sentries receiving a call from a post more distant from guardhouse than their own, will repeat the call to the next post loudly, distinctly, and exactly as they received it. To call the corporal of the guard for any purpose other than relief, fire or disorder, sentries will call "Corporal of the Guard, post number (# of the post)."

(5) TO QUIT MY POST ONLY WHEN PROPERLY RELIEVED.
The important words are "properly relieved." Properly relieved means that you are formally relieved by a member of the guard chain of command, or when informal relieve is authorized, the relieving sentry states aloud, "I relieve you," then assumes your duties. Under no circumstances will you relieve yourself from your post, or leave your post for any unauthorized reason. If you must leave your post to protect government property in view, or to apprehend an offender, your must first notify the corporal of the guard, EVEN IF immediate action is essential.

(6) TO RECEIVE, OBEY, AND PASS ON TO THE SENTRY WHO RELIEVES ME, ALL ORDERS FROM THE COMMANDING OFFICER, OFFICER OF THE DAY, AND OFFICERS AND NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS OF THE GUARD ONLY.
During your tour of duty, you may receive an order from a member of the guard chain of command or during an emergency, you may received an order from the senior officer present. It is your duty to obey these orders, and when the orders are "standing" (i.e., constantly in force), pass them on to your relief. Any officer or noncommissioned officer (NC) may report violations of regulations by members of the guard to the proper authority, however, a sentry will only be required to surrender his weapon to a person within his guard chain of command. An officer or NCO who observes you performing your duties improperly may report this discrepancy to the corporal of the guard, however, unless it is an emergency where the officer assumes command, the officer or NCO is not in your chain of command and should be treated accordingly.

(7) TO TALK TO NO ONE EXCEPT IN THE LINE OF DUTY.
A Marine on duty has no friends. When a person makes an inquiry of an official nature, you should give a brief, courteous response. Long or unofficial conversations will be avoided. When armed with a rifle, come to the position of "port arms" during your conversation.

(8) TO GIVE THE ALARM IN CASE OF FIRE OR DISORDER.
In case of fire, the sentry will immediately call "Fire, post (number of post)," and give the alarm or make certain the alarm has been given. If possible, without endangering yourself or the performance of your duties, extinguish the fire. Notify the guardhouse as soon as possible. In case of disorder, notify the corporal of the guard immediately, and then take the proper corrective action.

(9) TO CALL THE CORPORAL OF THE GUARD IN ANY CASE NOT COVERED BY INSTRUCTIONS.
If you encounter a situation not covered by your guard orders, or a situation when are not sure what to do, call the corporal of the guard and ask for instructions. Don't worry about making him mad or him thinking that you are "stupid" for not knowing. The purpose of the corporal of the guard is to ensure things go well on posts. He'll appreciate it much more if you ask the question than if you make the wrong decision without asking.

(10) TO SALUTE ALL OFFICERS, AND ALL COLORS AND STANDARDS NOT CASED.
All officers will be properly saluted once you have properly identified them as an officer, except when you are engaged in a specific duty which would prevent saluting. When armed with a rifle, salute by presenting arms. You will also salute all colors and standards. The term "Colors" applies to a national flag or unit or organization distinguishing flag carried by dismounted elements. And the term "Standard" applies to a flag carried by mounted, mechanized, motorized or aviation units of the Fleet Marine Force. You will not salute if they are "cased." What "cased" means is that there will be a sleeve placed over the color or standard for storage.

(11) TO BE ESPECIALLY WATCHFUL AT NIHT AND, DURING THE TIME FOR CHALLENGING, TO CHALLENGE ALL PERSONS ON OR NEAR MY POST AND ALLOW NO ONE TO PASS WITHOUT PROPER AUTHORITY.
A challenging post is one where access to the limits of your post is controlled, or any post during the hours of darkness. Some posts require you to use a password. The key words are "during the times of challenging.: All posts are not challenging posts. You should only challenge when the post has been designated as a challenging post.

c. Special Orders. Special orders apply to a particular post of the interior guard. They are promulgated by the Commanding Officer, to prescribe special duties or responsibilities for the main and special guard sentries that are not contained in the general orders.

(1) Each member of the interior guard is required to understand and comply with special orders which apply to that post.

(2) Each sentry on post is required to pass on the sentry who relieves him, all special orders that apply to that particular post.

3. REPORTING A POST

a. Purpose. A sentry would report his post for the purpose of notifying senior members of his chain of command, on the the present situation and conditions of his post. The sentry would report any unusual circumstances that had taken place during his tour of duty.

b. Procedures. There are certain steps to be followed to report your post.

(1) It is customary, as well as a courtesy to officers, to salute when they approach you. If unarmed, a sentry will render a hand salute. If armed with an M16A2 service rifle, the only way a salute will be administers is present arms.

(2) If the individual approaching your post is a senior member of your chain of command, you will report your post in the following manner: "Sir or Ma'am, (rank and last name) reports post # __ all secure, there is nothing unusual to report at this time." If additional information is required or the post is insecure, the sentry will provide that information at this time. (Example: "Sir, Private Jones reports post #2 all secure, except the open window on the side of the building.")

(3) The sentry cuts his salute and returns to port arms after the officer of NCO cuts his salute.

4. POSTING AND RELIEF OF GUARD PERSONNEL

a. There must b an organized method for posting and relieving the guard to ensure that all orders are verbally exchanged and understood, as well as sentries posted in a timely manner. The two methods utilized to post and relieve the guard are formal and informal.

b. Formal posting and relief

(1) Formal posting and relief is ceremonial in nature and requires close supervision.

(2) The following procedure will be followed in a formal relief of sentries. When the relief has arrived and halted at the point at a sentry's post designated for relief. The new sentry approaches the old and halts about three steps in front of and facing him/her. If armed with rifles, both sentries then execute port arms. The Corporal of the Guard places him or herself to one side of the sentries, faces between them and commands, "PASS ON YOUR ORDERS." The old sentry passes any changes of orders, information, or instructions received during his/her watch or states "POST AND ORDERS REMAIN THE SAME." The Corporal of the Guard then asks the new sentry, "DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR ORDERS?" If the new sentry understands his/her orders he replies affirmative, if not, the the Corporal of the Guard clarifies the orders and the commands, "POST."

c. Informal posting and relief:

(1) Informal posting and relief does not require close supervision.

(2) When an informal relief is prescribed, the sentry relieving comes to the sentry to be relieved on the post in person and asks, "ARE YOU READY TO BE RELIEVED?" When the sentry to be relieved is ready, he tells the sentry relieving him/her all pertinent special orders, instructions and information. As soon as the sentry relieving understands this material, he says, "I RELIEVE YOU," and assumes his duties. The sentry relieved retires and reports directly to the Corporal of the Guard to report the accomplishment of the relief.

REFERENCE

1. U.S. Marine Corps Interior Guard Manual                      NAVMC 2691A