Family members of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden -- called SIPs (significant inaugural participants) -- might require

Family members of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden -- called SIPs (significant inaugural participants) -- might require escorts, officials said, as might Cabinet-level nominees or other DIPs (designated inaugural participants).

(From The Washington Post) A panel from the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee on Tuesday wrapped up the intensive, months-long process used to identify the ideal people for the high-profile, high-stress jobs. The candidates had to look sharp, sound intelligent and be articulate, diplomatic and self-confident. They also had to know the city and possess that quality known as "good military bearing."
The military assistants, or MAs, as they are called, have the task of squiring the VIPs through numerous inaugural events, and Washington's inauguration traffic maze, while the world looks on.
It is a once-in-a-lifetime, much-sought-after job, interviewers said, especially this time, for the installation of Obama, the country's first black president. And all of the candidates were excellent, they said.
But only "the best of the best" make the list being submitted for final selection to the committee brass, officials said. The escorts must be requested by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which determines the size and nature of the inauguration.