Why has Dover stopped playing reveille or retreat? Published July 2, 2008 436th AW Public Affairs DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Q: Why has the base stopped playing Reveille or Retreat? They played for a little bit, and then just stopped. A: I appreciate the fact that you noticed the absence of these important traditions. Reveille and retreat are generally programmed to play at 6:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. respectively. On Fridays and other days in which we conduct a retreat ceremony, retreat plays at 4 p.m. You rightly noticed that we have experienced some problems recently with the system, and have since effected repairs. We also improved our maintenance notification process to ensure that this system is repaired in a more timely fashion in the future.