Gallup woman to be usher for inauguration
Reinhardt responsible for seating 53,000

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

GALLUP — When all the guests are comfortably in their seats on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Thursday morning waiting for President George Bush to be sworn in for his second term, they'll have a Gallup native to thank.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Lisa Reinhardt, 22, a former Gallup resident and two-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, won't just be watching her first presidential inauguration Thursday. As the Joint Usher Control Officer for this year's Joint Task Force Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, she will be making sure that all the guests all 53,000 of them find their seats smoothly and on time.

"I think it's a great opportunity to contribute to the time-honored tradition of the Military's support for the inauguration of the president," said Reinhardt.

Reinhardt said she moved to Gallup in 1991, where she attended Gallup Christian School and graduated from Gallup High School in 2001 before joining the Navy.

All this responsibility and honor didn't just fall into Reinhardt's lap. The hundreds of Armed Services men and women who make up each inauguration's Joint Task Force, said Lt. J.G. Douglas High, its public information officer, are hand picked.

After submitting her application with everyone else, Reinhardt was selected for the job by the Defense Intelligence Agency, a branch of the U.S. Department of Defense. She got the news last August.

High said it was unusual for an officer only two years into her service to be selected for the job.

"The majority of the 700-plus folks (with the Joint Task Force) come from quite a depth of experience," he said.

Although the Joint Task Force is not responsible for security that's left to the White House there's been plenty of prep work. As head usher, Reinhardt has been training 225 members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard to handle the thousands of anticipated guests for weeks. And although the weather's been cold of late, hovering in the 20s, Sunday's dress rehearsal, she said, went smoothly.

The real test will come Thursday.

The tradition of the Military's involvement in the presidential inauguration dates back to 1789, when members of the U.S. Army escorted George Washington to his swearing-in ceremony in New York City. It took on a more formal role when Congress authorized the Secretary of Defense to provide support for the event.

The Joint Task Force now serves as the Defense Department's liaison to the Presidential Inauguration Committee and Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which oversee the entire event.

The president is set to take his oath of office at 10 a.m.