It was quite amusing to see General Wynne himself doing the slow march by jerking his feet forward one at a time
RAWALPINDI: It was quite amusing to see General Khalid Shameem Wynne, chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, himself doing the slow march by jerking his feet forward one at a time, in drill square style, just as was being done by the two escorts ahead of him, while he was reviewing the Guard of Honour presented to him on his retirement.
VVIPs — civil and military both — are kindly advised that the escorts change to slow march from the quick march to allow you more time to inspect the guards at your reasonable leisure and pace than passing by them hurriedly marching at 32 paces a minute (standard quick march pace). Their changing to slow march doesn’t mean that the VVIP also does a slow march. They should just keep on walking normally, gracefully in a dignified manner, looking into eyes of the guardsmen as they pass by them, even stopping once in a while to say hello to a soldier.
It is for the military secretaries of the VIPs to apprise them of such details of the protocol and if need be, make them rehearse these beforehand within the confines of their spacious offices.
Colonel (retd) Riaz Jafri
Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2013.
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