Hopefully this thread is still somewhat active. I have a few questions on the Color Guard and General Guides that I'm hoping to have answered and, so far, no manuals seem to be able to answer them.
If two flags (National and State) are used, the top two ranking Corporals hold the colors - does the top ranking Corporal hold the National Flag and the 2nd ranking Corporal hold the State Flag? I know the Color Sergeant stands between them while in line of battle...
Who chooses the Sergeant and Corporals in the Color Guard? I'm assuming the regimental commander, correct?
Are the Color Sergeant, Bearers, and the rest of the Guard chosen out of the entire Regiment, or out of the 3rd (aka Company C, or the Color Company) only?
If chosen out of the entire Regiment, and not chosen out of Color Company, the Companies from which the Guard was chosen will be short one or more men. Are these men replaced in the affected Companies, and if so, are they replaced by men from the Color Company (sort of like a "trade"), or by men from within the same Companies (maybe via promotion(s))?
The Color Guard is attached to the 3rd Company as per this rough quote from Casey's manual ("For the time being, the Color Guard is a part of the 3rd (Color) Company"). With this in mind, are all of the Corporals in the 3rd Company (normally 8) retained in the Color Guard, or does the 3rd Company (not including the Color Guard) still keep its normal allotment of non-commissioned officers?
I guess a sub-question in all of this would be: Is the Color Guard its own "demi-company" of sorts, or is it truly part of the 3rd Company? If it's part of the 3rd Company, is it included or not included in the 3rd Company's roster of non-commissioned officers?
Another related question to this would be: is each Company, after the Color Guard is chosen, still up to the Maximum Strength of 101 officers and men, or is the 3rd company now 110 (or so) men strong, and the other Companies, from which the Color Guard was chosen, now down to less than 101 officers and men?
Lot of questions I know, but I have more! ;-)
Now on to the General Guides:
Two General Guides, one for the left or the Regiment, and one for the right of the Regiment, will be chosen by the Regimental Commander from the Sergeants (although not of the 1st Sgts) of the Regiment...
Are these Sgts replaced in the Companies from which they are taken (by promoting Corporals, and the Corporals are thus replaced by promoting Privates)? Or are the Companies supposed to operate without the Sgt(s) while the Sgt(s) is detached and serving as a General Guide?
Many thanks to any and all who reply to this post!