Educating the Military Drill World
Across the United States, historic military schools and colleges are increasingly misunderstood, marginalized, or targeted for closure. Too often, they are dismissed as relics of the past—out of step with modern education or unnecessary in a professional volunteer force.
In two previous articles (available here¹ and here²), I examined instances in which U.S. Air Force–affiliated cadet programs appeared to depart from published Department of the Air Force drill and ceremonies doctrine. Those discussions raised important questions about authority, interpretation, and the proper limits of cadet instructional publications.
Over the past several years, I have documented a growing and troubling trend across cadet programs: drill and ceremonies standards being altered, replaced, or hybridized without clear doctrinal authority.
It has taken me a while to research and formulate a statement that calls on cadet program HQs to take a hard look at procedures. During this time, AFJROTC, NJROTC, CAP, and Yount Marines were the programs in my view. I am not calling out individuals, I am calling out the institutions, not people.
Three powerful concepts—Building Cohesion, Competition Simulation, and Peer Leadership—will build a truly dominant and strong drill team and color guard.
This guidance provides judges with a consistent framework for evaluating flight (platoon) commander positioning during regulation drill, ensuring assessments are based on published drill standards rather than regional practice, instructor habit, or competitive normalization.
Senior Pentagon reporter Jeff Schogol recently published an excellent piece at Task & Purpose1 detailing the restructuring of U.S. Air Force Basic Military Training (BMT). The article focuses on modernization, but two particular aspects stand out because they directly reinforce something I have taught for years: drill and ceremonies are not cosmetic traditions — they are functional training tools with real-world application.
For many people involved in military drill, ceremonial color guards, marching band, or drum corps, one question keeps resurfacing: How did we all start in the same place—and end up speaking completely different languages about flags, rifles, and sabers? The answer is not stylistic. It is structural. It is a story about authority—where it came from, where it went, and …
In recent decades, military drill teams—particularly those performing exhibition drill—have increasingly adopted visual elements commonly associated with pageantry arts. Audiences often see this overlap and assume the two are functionally equivalent. They are not.
Although exhibition drill may borrow tools from pageantry arts, the two are not the same discipline. They differ fundamentally in purpose, authority, design intent, and evaluation philosophy.