Servicemembers involved in logistics for the upcoming inauguration discuss procedures prior to the rehearsal for the event at the U.S. Capitol on January 13, 2013. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Servicemembers involved in logistics for the upcoming inauguration discuss procedures prior to the rehearsal for the event at the U.S. Capitol on January 13, 2013. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Marines from Quantico and Henderson Hall line up on 14th St. in Washington, D.C. in the predawn hours on Sunday, ready to fan out along the Pennsylvania Ave. inaugural parade route for the rehearsal. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Workers set up chairs on the Capitol lawn during Sunday's inaugural rehearsal. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
The view from the inaugural podium before Sunday's rehearsal. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Air Force Staff Sgt. Serpico D. Elliott, right, and other stand-ins during Sunday's inauguration rehearsal. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Air Force Staff Sgt. Serpico D. Elliott as President Barack Obama and Army Spc. Delandra Rollins as first lady Michelle Obama, during Sunday's rehearsal of the swearing-in ceremony. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Air Force Staff Sgt. Serpico D. Elliott gets some instructions as he stands in for President Barack Obama. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Marine Corps Master Sgt. Richard J. Bolin and Coast Guard CPO Rachel M. Washko stand in for Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden during Sunday's inauguration rehearsal. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Air Force Staff Sgt. Serpico D. Elliott, the stand-in for President Barack Obama, walks down the steps from the Capitol to the podium during Sunday's inauguration rehearsal. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Stand-ins await the start of the rehearsal. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Stand-ins for U.S. Senators watch the inaugural rehearsal. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Stand-ins emerge from the Capitol during the rehearsal. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Coast Guardsmen taking part in the inauguration rehearsal gather for instructions at the Capitol. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
The stand-in for inaugural poet Richard Blanco takes a photo from the podium. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Servicemembers pose for a photo on the podium during Sunday's rehearsal. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
In a view from the U.S. Capitol during the rehearsal for the inaugural swearing-in ceremony, another part of the practice takes place on Pennsylvania Ave. ()
Fog descends on the Capitol dome during Sunday's inauguration rehearsal. ()
WASHINGTON — Of the approximately 5,500 servicemembers involved in next week’s presidential inauguration, four were thrust into the spotlight Sunday as they took on the leading roles for a day.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Serpico D. Elliott stood in for President Barack Obama during the rehearsal for the inauguration ceremony, walking out of the Capitol building to “Hail to the Chief” and applause.
As Elliott, 29, raised his hand to simulate taking the oath of office, Army Spc. Delandra Rollins stood by his side as she played the role of first lady Michelle Obama.
“It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime event, so it was good to see it looking down on it instead of looking from the outside in,” said Elliott, who will be working as part of a communications team during the real inauguration. “It’s an amazing feeling, even if it was only for a day.”
The roles of Vice President Joe Biden and second lady Dr. Jill Biden also got the military treatment, with their roles played by Marine Master Sgt. Richard J. Bolin and Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Rachel Washko.
“We’re here supporting the inauguration,” Washko said. “And this is just one of our roles.”
Elliott was chosen mostly based on his resemblance to Obama, right down to his salt-and-pepper hair. Standing at 6 feet 2 inches, the computer networks technician is one inch taller than his boss, and has been told more than once that he looks like his commander in chief.
“It was more of a fitting of the stature, so we could get the angles and everything like that,” Elliott said. “I fit his physical build.”
Once the rehearsals ended, however, it was back to work for the four, who are among the nearly 200 members of a joint task force charged with coordinating all ceremonial military support for the 57th inauguration that has been almost a year in the making. That includes musical units, marching bands, color guards, salute batteries and honor cordons.
About 1,500 troops will line Pennsylvania Avenue on the parade route through Washington on Jan. 21. There will be about 10,000 people marching in it, with each of the branches of the military leading a division of the parade.
“It’s very complicated,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. James P. Scanlan, deputy of inaugural support at Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region. “The planning probably started over a year ago. There’s a lot of pictures, there’s a lot of reports, there’s a lot of things we look at from previous inaugurations.”
The main challenges will be moving and screening the 10,000 participants in the parade — and Mother Nature, Scanlan said.
“The biggest challenge by far — without a doubt — our enemy is the weather,” Scanlan said. “If the weather is that severe, there would be a call that the swearing in ceremony would be held indoors.”
The last time that happened was in 1985, when temperatures were unbearably cold, Scanlan said.
Despite all the pomp and circumstance, the Jan. 21 inauguration will be purely ceremonial. Obama will be sworn in at a small private ceremony on Jan. 20, the constitutionally mandated date for a presidential inauguration.
linc@stripes.osd.milTwitter: @cjlinSS
