Making RTC Great Again

I have been posting critiques on social media for several years now. The critiques are meant to educate, and my overwhelming feedback shows it works time and again. Some view the critiques as personal attacks, I cannot help that, no matter how I structure my phrasing.

Holding others accountable in the area of drill and ceremonies, and protocol is new. I know of no other who has ever critiqued publicly or privately like I do. Many, many people and organizations have worked to fix errors that I have identified over the years and it’s quite possible Recruit Training Command (RTC) Great Lakes is one.

In the summer of 2023, I felt compelled to make a critique video of a graduation ceremony. You can see a screenshot below.

The color guard in the 2023 graduation ceremony and for every graduation in years past, carried the POW/MIA flag. A flag that is not authorized to be carried in a color guard. For more on that read All About POW/MIA Flag Protocol, https://thedrillmaster.org/2019/01/15/all-about-the-pow-mia-flag-protocol/. In the 2024 image, you can see that just the US Navy Departmental and the RTC organizational are being carried. However, MCO 5060.20 does not allow for any other color to be carried besides the departmental. Navy units that do have a battalion organizational color can carry that in addition to the national and USN.

See my video critique of the graduation ceremony here.

As of May 2024, the POW/MIA flag is no longer carried, and I very much appreciate that. Next on the to-do list is to work on the state and territory color bearers adhering to color bearer standards clearly stated in MCO 5060.20 and the static display in the building where the graduations take place.

States and Territories Bearers

• Carry is only executed with the staff vertical. Angled to the side and then whipped around in a sweeping motion to the front is not authorized. This is all “exhibition” type movement and quite inappropriate.
• The palm-out hold technique is not authorized. You perpetuate that grip technique that is not used in the US, so no wonder others think it’s appropriate.
• Several state colors have changed and need to be updated immediately.
• NEVER push a color (a flag mounted on a flagstaff) forward at Parade Rest. Colors always remain vertical at Parade Rest. The colors are so large that they touch the deck.
• You are using 4’x6’ colors. The Department of the Navy (DoN) uses 4’4”x5’6” colors. However, the military sized color is more expensive, and I see no reason to replace every single color, an extremely expensive prospect (over $10,000), just to be within a standard when it is not all that obvious.
• Staffs are required to be the light ash wood guidon staffs 9’6” in length with gold-colored ferrules and middle screw joint. You are using the dark brown staffs that are for civilian indoor display that were never intended to be used in a color guard.
• Finials are supposed to be the gold-colored battle-ax (battalion lance). You are using the flat Roman era spearhead.

Marching and Sword Manual

• The marching in place with the extreme leg lift is not authorized. MCO 5060.20 states the toe is raised 2” and the heel 4” off the deck.
• Platoon commanders (any rank) face the platoon for all commands given while static.

Color Guard

• Fringe is not authorized on the national.
• These staffs are also required to be the light ash wood guidon staffs 9’6” in length with gold-colored ferrules and middle screw joint. You are using the dark brown staffs that are for civilian indoor display that were never intended to be used in a color guard.
• You are to march and stand at Close Interval only.
• Left hands are cut to the side and do not swing when marching.
• All color guard members wear the white web belt.
• The harness socket is worn under the web belt below the waist (please avoid the placing it over the crotch) and each one shall be adjusted to as close to the same level as possible without the departmental being higher than the national.
• Right arms are not pinned to the staff, the elbow is relaxed and at an approximate 30-degree angle from vertical.
• You march at 116-120 steps per minute. Nothing slower or faster, nor changing tempo is authorized.
• You cannot perform a Wheel movement (center rotation) as that is for joint colors formations only in the DoN, you must perform a Turn (rotation on the guard).
• Guards cannot use a “Mirror Present”, they must follow the standard set down in the MCO.
• On the first note of the Anthem (when the first word is sung, not the intro of the version used), the Departmental must be dipped in a 1-count move. That is ON the first note, not several notes in.

Colors Display

• On the stage, behind the speaker’s podium, also needs to be addressed. The same staffs and finials need to be implemented.
• When appropriate the Personal/Positional Color of the visiting dignitary who takes part in the ceremony (reviewing officer, guest speaker) should be displayed.
• The static display below does not meet flag protocol requirements.
  • The national must be on the viewer’s left. No other flag is displayed to the left of the national, ever.
  • Military displays do not post the US in the center because of the requirement that all staffs are the same length.
  • The gold-colored cord and tassels is not authorized for any display of departmental colors.
  • All finials must be the same type. The least expensive alternative to this would be to replace the spread eagle with the conical spear.
  • The staff are not guidon staffs, which is mandatory, but to not spend about $1400 on the correct staffs, leave them.
  • The staffs should be 9’6″.
  • The Colors should be 4’4″x5’6″ as per paragraph 1710, NTP 13(B) and AR 840-10, MCO 5060.20, and AFI 34-1201. These colors are most likely 4’x6’ and are not authorized for display or to be carried in the US military.

Kudos to the Drum Corps and Drill Team! But…

The rifles in the images above are replica M1 Garands. What you see in the bottom three photos is the RTC Drill Team using the wrong hands for Inspection Arms for the M1 Garand (and M14). The M1903 has a bolt handle that is only actioned with the right hand as shown in the above photos. Inspection Arms for the M1903 is very different from the M1/M14 for the hands.

In contrast to that, both the M1 and M14 have an operating rod (charging) handle that is actioned with the left hand as shown below. The following images are from Enclosure 3, Appendix A, Manual of Arms with the M1 Service Rifle.

Local SOP?

Just in case this argument tries to rear its ugly head, there’s no such thing as a local SOP or other guidance that veers away from the stated standards of the Department of the Navy. You can tighten standards locally, you can’t loosen.

The August 1^st, 2024, graduation ceremony