Written Critique of the USAF Drill Team 2012 Routine

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If you’d like to read my critique of the American Air Force’s Honor Guard Drill Team 2012 routine, go to their YouTube channel. If you have any questions or comments about the critique, fire away! DrillMaster Do you have a video you would like critiqued by The DrillMaster? Then please send an email!

Regarding a Driller’s Bearing

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Some Driller colleagues of mine tried to put together a list of what one might consider the “basics” of drill. However, this title brings Standing Manual, marching and even the manual of arms to mind. So, “basics” as the title does not work to fully describe this attempt. ”Bearing” however, does. From Thesaurus.com: Main Entry: bearing Part of Speech: noun …

JSDC12 Recordings!

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After weeks of wrestling with a software problem, I finally figured out the problem and Voila! Here are the Overall Effect commentaries I made for the Joint Service Drill Competition (Meet) of 2012. Merchant Marine Academy Silent Drill Team Coast Guard Drill Team Navy Silent Drill Team Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon Air Force Drill Team Army Silent Drill Team Download, listen, …

Does a Drill Rifle Type Matter?

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Hypothetical situation (yet common): “Well we use M1 Grands and ours weigh 15lbs.” Oh. Really? That would be Garand, named after the man who created the rifle, Canadian-born, John Cantius Garand. For some reason some Drillers think that the heavier the rifle is, the better a Driller you are. This is simply not true. All rifles, including 2lb color guard …

“Stand Still Laddy!”

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That’s a line from Pink Floyd’s song, The Wall. And it fits perfectly. Judges: stop moving around the drill pad! Why? It’s distracting to the audience- which is not a main concern, but is part of the consideration. There are macro and micro moves a Driller can perform and if you are constantly moving around, you will miss those subtleties. …

The Six-Man Flag Fold Part 2

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Note: “man” does not mean “male” The standard six-man flag fold is accomplished with either 6 or 8 honor guard members The positions are, from top left: HandOff, CrossMark, (Dead CrossMark*), Fold Carry, Mark, (Dead Mark*), Commander of the Pall Bearers *There is no pun intended as these positions do the same thing as their center counterparts for a flag …

How to Execute Carry Arms

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This is the safest way to carry an unloaded or replica rifle. Everyone needs to adopt this carry right away- Port Arms is not the way to transport a rifle unless you are in formation and there isn’t anyone around. Carry Arms is a move executed while carrying a a rifle, fire axe or pike pole. This is the safest …

Why “Equipment”

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Why do I use the term “equipment” and not just say “rifle”? Good question; here’s the answer. When I was writing my second book, The World Drill Association Adjudication Manual and Rule Book, I quickly found that I had a slight dilemma. When I came to write the section for the judge who judges armed routines, I realized that I …

Weapon and Tool Nomenclatures

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Nomenclatures The M1 Garand The M14 The M1903A3 The Enfield Rifle The Fire Axe The Pike Pole This information if from The Honor Guard Manual and is (c) John K. Marshall