What do judges look for in a military drill team performance?

What do judges look for in a military drill team performance?
I get this question quite often. Here is the answer: it doesn’t matter “what the judge is looking for,” it matters what the standard is. I put that in quotes, because obviously, a judge is going to be looking for something, but what that something is has nothing to do with the judge, it has everything to do with the standard.

Regulation Drill (RD)
In RD, the standard is already written out for us: each service has a drill and ceremonies manual that explains what we need to know. However, as I’ve said before, the D&C manuals do not go into great detail, because they don’t need to. Drill in the military is only for moving troops from Point A to Point B, except in certain circumstances (military parades, honor guard, etc.).

Exhibition Drill (XD)
In XD, we don’t have anything provided by the military services; there is no military manual. There is guidance, however! My books are the only published resources available, taking you from building a solid educational foundation to creating effective routines and then even how to judge performances with this judging based on visual adjudication.

So, the judges do “look for something,” and unless the competition uses the World Drill Association Adjudication System, you don’t know what that is because of the sheer subjectivity of each untrained judge. What’s the answer then? Your instructors, coaches and drill team(s) should study and become knowledgeable of what The DrillMaster Education System has to offer. Make this part of your drill team’s curriculum, ingrain the information so that whatever you do, whatever judge you’re in front of, you KNOW that you’ve done all you can in educating and training yourself and your teammates.

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