The secretary of the Air Force is passing word that she thinks it would be a very good idea to provide a traditional gun volley at veteran burials if a family wants it — even though the service in 2013 downsized the honor guard minimum to just two individuals for 20-year retirees and a like number for veterans at least as far back as 2008.

Despite the past changes, the 15th Wing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam said it provided seven-member teams for retirees until Dec. 1, with three honor guard members out of that group firing three volleys.

Service members who die on active duty are entitled to a 20-person detail.

The 15th Wing issued a notice saying that as of Dec. 1 it was reducing retiree and veteran funeral details from a seven-person detail to a three-person detail to provide “manpower relief.” The new three-member party was to include two to fold and present an American flag, and one to play taps, but no gun volley.

Last week, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James took to Facebook and advised commanders to find a way to make a three-shot volley possible for veterans and retirees.

“Understanding the tremendous demands on our airmen, we’re strongly encouraging commanders to provide a gun volley to those who are eligible and to partner with all the veteran’s service organizations in their regions to support the family’s wishes,” James said.

Organizations such as Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion can be part of a rifle salute and playing of taps, the Air Force said. Four individuals can effectively serve a funeral with three firing the three-shot volleys, according to the service.

If units are unable to provide more than a two-member honor guard, “wing commanders must be informed prior to the ceremony,” James said. “We’re stretched thin, but this is a priority — we will continue to honor all our veterans and the sacrifices they have given for our nation.”

The removal of the show of military respect struck a chord with some.

“If we truly want to honor our veterans, we would NEVER remove the 21-gun salute from funeral honors,” Brian Potvin wrote on the Air Force secretary’s Facebook page. “The fact that this honor was removed is a travesty. There has GOT to be something else that can be cut before we cut this honor.”

The three-volley salute can be traced to battlefield cease-fires allowing each side to clear their dead, said Capt. Brooke Brzozowske, an Air Force spokeswoman at the Pentagon. Three volleys indicated the dead were cleared and cared for.

The burial firing party salute is often confused with a “21-gun salute” reserved for heads of state.

In 2013 the Air Force said that due to the budget impacts of sequestration, the service was reverting to a two-person minimum for retiree funeral honors. At that time the minimum for veterans who did not qualify for retirement also was two, according to the Air Force.

Air Force regulations issued in March said commanders, based on available resources, had the authority to field a seven-person team with a firing party for retiree funerals.

The 15th Wing said the more recent Dec. 1 reduction for retiree and veteran funeral details from seven to three — with the minimum being two — was made with the Air Force trying “to reduce the stress on each base’s respective honor guard program.”

“We cannot speak for each and every base in the Air Force, but Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam supported approximately 235 funerals in (fiscal) 2015,” the 15th Wing said.

Those included 89 retiree funerals and 146 veteran funerals — totals that rose from the two years before.

The ability to have a trained and ready honor guard necessitates a lot of additional “non-career field” training with significant time away from primary duties, the 15th Wing said.

“It is easier to provide a seven-person team for a retiree funeral on Oahu. However, each seven-person retiree funeral detail provided off-island includes costs for transportation, uniforms, alterations, dry cleaning, training, transit time to/from ceremonies, etc., as well as the additional time away from primary duties,” the command said.

In a sign of ongoing budget woes, the Air Force said Wednesday that to meet “funding targets” some Air Force installations would implement civilian reductions in force effective through April 4. More than 1,000 civilian overages were identified across 48 Air Force installations going into fiscal year 2016, the Air Force said.

Asked whether the 15th Wing would comply with the Air Force secretary’s recommendation to include firing parties at funerals, the command said its leadership “is reviewing the policy. However, no decision has been made on changing the size of honor guard details at this time. We are committed to honoring our veterans and will continue to do everything we can to provide the memorial services these veterans deserve — resources permitting.”