The Air National Guard Band of the Southwest may perform for public and civic events if the event is of general interest or benefit to a local, state or national community. However, the Band may not participate in events that are commercially sponsored; are designed to increase business traffic or raise charitable donations; or are associated with a religious or ideological movement, such as a Christmas parade, beauty pageant or political gathering. With the exception of concert tour performances, requestors may be required to fund the Band's travel, lodging and per diem expenses.
The Band may perform for a wide variety of public and civic events. However, these performances generally fall into one of two categories.
Patriotic openers, approximately 15 to 20 minutes in length, serve to initiate the formal portion of a military, civic or governmental event. In this setting, the Band may perform a program of military and patriotic selections prior to the formal presentation of the Colors. The musical program must include the national anthem unless the ceremony includes the Pledge of Allegiance. During patriotic openers, the Band may not provide music for entertainment, such as background, dinner, dance, or other social music.
Public concerts in a traditional concert hall, outdoor venue or parade must be free and open to the public. However, the Band may perform at fairs, exhibitions and similar events with admission fees if the performance is incidental to the primary event, and no additional fee is charged to hear the Band play.