www.gazettevirginian.com/archivesfolder.html/3-22-2000. -
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Published on: 3/22/2000
Last Visited: 12/22/2007
It was part of the training for Shawn Patrick Sweeney, the 34-year-old chief, who entered the U.S. Army after high school and was selected as a member of the prestigious Continental Color Guard for full-honor ceremonies in Washington, D.C.Dressed in revolutionary garb, including the wig, and shouldering either a musket or bearing the American colors, Sweeney stood in review in the halls of the White House with door-opening details to give passage to American presidents and dignitaries. "When the wind was up, it was really fun holding those flagstaffs," recalled Sweeney of the high-profile appearances with large flags on the parade grounds during the days of President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbechev.
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Duty for Sweeney required photo opportunities with Newsweek and Time as he stood by the colors of the American flag in the White House, the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery; later he served as a member of an A-team, which placed him in the rather surreal position between Syrian and Egyptian troops in the desert of Kuwait.Sweeney was born in Orange County, California, and traveled throughout the country and in Europe while his father, Patrick, now retired on a farm in Halifax County, served in the U.S. Army.
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In 1984, Sweeney graduated from high school in Newport News and immediately went into active duty with the U.S. Army, which sent him into basic infantry school and airborne school at Fort Benning in Georgia.While assigned with the 1st Unit of the 3rd U.S. Infantry, Sweeney applied for the Old Color Guard, and went through a screening process, which considered physical character, GT scores and background history, before he was selected and sent to Fort Myer in Arlington for training.After six weeks of in-house training, Sweeney was assigned to Company E of the honor guard and served in the First Presidential Marching Platoon at the White House, at the Pentagon and for wreath-laying ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery.Duty included funeral details and arrival ceremonies for high-ranking military officials and dignitaries of foreign countries. "One square mile had been roped off at Arlington for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by then-President Corazon Aquino," said Sweeney in reference to Aquino's presence at Arlington, which had warranted a death threat to the Philippine president as "very probable."Sweeney was assigned to open the door for Aquino as her limousine pulled up to the walkway entrance to the tomb. Door-opening detail of bullet-proofed Russian limousines also provided rare moments for Sweeney as he viewed the interiors armed with Russian AK-47s.During Gorbechev's first Soviet visit to the U.S., Sweeney was assigned with the Soviet's secret service.
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It was during the Bush administration when Sweeney applied for special forces and after a two-week selection process, he was transferred to Fort Bragg in North Carolina.Sweeney was assigned as a Special Operations junior weapons sergeant and was trained in small and large caliber weapons, which involved the .9-mm pistol up to the .106-mm recoilless rifle.Afterwards, it was on to military occupation specialty school, where, in nine months, Sweeney was taught tactics and operations of small units in leadership.The training qualified Sweeney for duty with A-teams and after a program of learning Persian Farsi, an Iranian language, he was sent to the 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.As an assistant operations sergeant, Sweeney coordinated training and resources for A-teams for intelligence and security requirements.In August of 1990, Sweeney was deployed to Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia where his primary mission was to provide close air support for detached operations.During Desert Storm, Sweeney was given the duty of training allied Arabs in the use of equipment."We lived with Arab troops and combined arms in mechanized infantry," said Sweeney."We used Saudi tents, ate Saudi food, acquired a serious tan and a taste for pita bread and bean paste," said Sweeney.The food was mainly goats and chicken with boiled rice in the same water used in cooking a goat."I never quite acquired a taste for it," said Sweeney."And there definitely wasn't a lot of pork out there," added Sweeney.Sweeney finished his service as an (E-7) Sergeant First Class in classified operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Department of the Army, Approved Special Projects.After his enlistment ended, Sweeney applied for a job with the South Boston Police Department, where he served as an officer for two years.Sweeney's parents, Patrick and Diane Sweeney, had moved to a farm in the Ellis Creek Community of Halifax County, where Patrick became involved with the Boys Scouts, and which had brought Shawn, his wife and two children to the area in August of 1994.
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After another one and a half years with Sheriff Oakes, Sweeney worked as a part-time officer for the Town of Halifax and joined the Virginia Army National Guard at Fort Pickett.In January of 1998, Sweeney was appointed chief of police in the Town of Halifax, where he now resides with his family.
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