Educating the Military Drill World
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What am I talking about? Well, in same competitions cadets are not allowed to let the sword or saber leave their hand- they cannot spin their chosen piece of drill equipment. Now, that has led to some creative work being done by a small handful of Drillers- which is an excellent thing! However, it also stifles other creativity. I have an answer to the predicament that comes from the color guard world (remember, here at DrillMaster color guard= marching band or winter guard and color team = military).
Above is the Excalibur Saber (photo courtesy of Bandshoppe). It is one of the sabers used by color guard units all over the world and it is safe! I really hope that more military drill teams will begin to explore the uses of this great piece of equipment, it can only bring benefits.
As far as ceremonial use goes, this is a saber that a cordon could use since it does fit into a scabbard. Who wants to beat up a ceremonial saber anymore anyway now that we have the spinnable saber?
Note: The Band Shoppe is just one of the web sites that carries color guard sabers from where I have purchased before.
During a performance anything can happen. If you haven’t yet, read, Learning to Drop and then come back here. Also, read these: Appreciating Creative Ability, “Military Flavor.” and especially, Regarding a Driller’s Bearing.
Military bearing is one of the keys to a good performance, this cannot be emphasized enough and it has much to do with your recovery.
Recovery
Whether you fumble with or drop your rifle, flank to the right when everyone else on the team flanks left or forget what move comes next, your ability to roll with the punches and communicate to the audience that everything is exactly the way it should be is part of recovery.
For instance, a member of my drill team during my junior year in high school (SY 81/82) flanked the wrong way and was the only one heading straight for the head judge. He was cool, calm and collected as he halted right in front of him, saluted and, amazingly, seamlessly rejoined the team for he rest of the routine. His recovery was unique and spectacular for those of us who knew what was going on. The audience was none the wiser and thought it was a well-choreographed move.
Don’t anything else less than perfection. Keep your bearing and recover as quickly as possible.
I Dropped (Fumbled) my Rifle!
Whatever you do, do not hesitate to pick it up and get back into the routine. You don’t even need to come to Attention and then pick it up, just do it and minimize the drop. I’ll repeat that: MINIMIZE THE DROP! And please, please, please do not salute your rifle before picking it up!
Don’t roll your eyes, make a face or even huff in disgust at yourself. Make everyone in the audience believe that you (and your team) are doing everything that was programmed in the routine.
You will never see an individual who does not meet the height requirement on a service drill team (there are so few exceptions, it’s not worth going into detail). Also, you will never see an officer on a service honor guard color team or as a member of the service’s drill team. The only way an officer is part of the drill team is as a commander and then he or she is not usually an integral part of the routine except for a few minutes here and there (one exception to this is the USAF Honor Guard Drill Team’s 2012 routine where the commander actually gets to catch a rifle).
So, what if you are too short to go to your service’s Presidential Honor Guard and still want to do the things they do? Join the team at your installation.
The USAF Base Honor Guard Program
The Air Force is the only service to have a full-time trained team that can go and perform a full honors funeral at a moment’s notice. BHG are at all installations across the globe. Installation location is one of the guides for the size of the team. Teams located in warmer climates where more retirees live are somewhat larger than teams at remote locations. Since Airmen are most often the only ones who are honor guard trained they end up being the go-to people for when stationed in joint service situations.
Other Service Honor Guard Programs
There aren’t any, per se. What the other services have are color guards at each base or post. There is one sergeant on the installation who is the Color Sergeant or an LPO (Lead Petty Officer) and he or she is in charge of the team. Sometimes these teams will have to put together a funeral detail and, while these teams try their best, it’s close to impossible to gather and train a firing party and pall bearers and have them perform well in less than 2 days.Some funeral tasking notifications are very short-notice.
Many funerals are taken care of by the Army and Air National Guard in each state. Each service’s reserve units also handle funerals.
What’s the bottom line? Check into what your installation offers and if there isn’t an ongoing program- make one! I’ll help you as much as I can.
If you had to do only one thing to improve your performance, what do you think it would be?
Balance
Balance is the equal distribution of weight. When you perform, through each movement that you execute, you need to have that equal distribution of weight- or at least the appearance of it.
Take a dance class or start doing exercises that work on your balance. Photo from fitnessmart.com.
Dance your way to balance
Here is an interesting article: Dancing Makes You Smarter
And another: Dance and Ballet Training for Sports
All Drillers need to read this article: Good Dancers Make it Look Easy
Flexibility is an important part of being healthy. Dance requires a great amount of flexibility. Most dance classes begin with a warm-up including several stretching exercises. Dancers must strive to achieve full range of motion for all the major muscle groups. The greater the range of motion, the more muscles can flex and extend. Most forms of dance require dancers to perform moves that require bending and stretching, so dancers naturally become more flexible by simply dancing.
Strength is defined as the ability of a muscle to exert a force against resistance. Dancing builds strength by forcing the muscles to resist against a dancer’s own body weight. Many styles of dance, including jazz and ballet, require jumping and leaping high into the air. Jumping and leaping require tremendous strength of the major leg muscles. Ballroom dancing builds strength. Consider the muscle mass a male ballroom dancer develops by lifting his partner above his head!
Dance is physical exercise. Exercise increases endurance. Endurance is the ability of muscles to work hard for increasingly longer periods of time without fatigue. Regular dancing is great for improving endurance, especially vigorous dancing such as line and ballroom dancing. Elevating the heart rate can increase stamina. Just as in any form of exercise, regular dancing will build endurance. From http://dance.about.com/od/danceandyourhealth/tp/Health-Benefits.htm
Dancing can require fast movement it can also require slower, more deliberate movement and always good posture. Frequent dancing will help you stabilize and gain better control of your body.
Exercise your way to balance
Balance: you must develop your core muscles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWuKEt96Jjs
Here is a long list of different balance exercises.
Crab mentality, sometimes referred to as crabs in the bucket, describes a way of thinking best described by the phrase “if I can’t have it, neither can you.” The metaphor refers to a bucket of crabs.
Individually, the crabs could easily escape from the bucket, but instead, they grab at at any one of the crabs who might be able to escape, ensuring their collective demise. The analogy in human behavior is that of a group that will attempt to “pull down” (negate or diminish the importance of) any member who achieves success beyond the others, out of envy, fear, conspiracy, or competitive feelings.
Fear is a big motivator here as it’s the fear of someone else being better than you without you being able to see that you have your own God-given talents and that there is room for everyone to succeed.
The term is broadly associated with short-sighted, non-constructive thinking rather than a unified, long-term, constructive mentality. It is also often used colloquially in reference to individuals or communities attempting to “escape” a so-called “underprivileged life”, but kept from doing so by others attempting to ride upon their coat-tails or those who simply resent their success.
There are all kinds of situations in life where you may run into this and the subculture of the military drill world is not free of the mentality, unfortunately. However, don’t let that discourage you- whatever you do! Keep plugging away at learning and growing- it should never stop!
FYI: Service honor guards are made up of all kinds of different members from all kinds of different military specialties. While the honor guard may have a specialty code (MOS/AFSC), the member’s “real” job is what that Soldier, Marine, Sailor, Airman or Coastie will eventually go back to, unless he/she decides to retrain. If the individual went directly from Basic and was never assigned another job, they will go directly to training upon leaving the honor guard.
How to join the Army Honor Guard (Old Guard)
The Old Guard has a complete web site with information on how Active Duty Soldiers can join. For those wanting to join right out of Basic Training, here is a note from Regimental Recruiter SFC Hector Milian, “Soldiers going through Basic Training and AIT can volunteer by contacting myself or the AIT TOG Recruiter and filling out a volunteer statement requesting to come here if they meet the qualifications necessary. Once they are screened and they meet our criteria, the volunteer statement is approved and sent to the assignment manager requesting that they are placed on assignment instructions for here. Office: 703-696-3007 DSN:426.” TOG
How to join the Marine Corps Honor Guard
The Marine Corps honor guard recruits Active Duty Marines in all Military Operational Specialties. Silent Drill Platoon Marines are individually selected from the Schools of Infantry located in Camp Pendleton, Calif., and Camp Lejeune, N.C., based on interviews conducted by barracks personnel. Once selected, Marines are assigned to Marine Barracks Washington (MBW) to serve a 2-year ceremonial tour. MBW
How to join the Navy Ceremonial Guard
The honor guard picks you up right out of boot camp (we have officers and petty officers that come here from the fleet, but they don’t perform the more honorable ceremonies, they are more of the supervisors and commanders calling the moves to the rest of the honor guard). In boot camp there is a briefing that happens usually around week 3 or 4. At that briefing they will talk about what you do at the guard along with the four different platoons (casket bearers, colors, firing party, and drill team). From there they will tell you about a briefing the next day that will be the interviews for anyone interested in what they heard at the briefing (giving you a night to really think about it). From there they will interview you, asking why you want to join, what your rating is, etc. The honor guard requires you to be at least 6 feet tall if you are a male and I think 5’9″ for females (I might be wrong on the females height though), any rating that requires secret or top secret security clearances usually will not be permitted to go to the guard, and no tattoos may be visible on the face along with any facial scars. Other than those major disqualifiers the guard pretty much accepts everyone to my knowledge.
The best way to approach getting into the honor guard is tricky, seeing as how every division that passes through basic training is not necessarily invited to the briefing. The only thing I can say about that is if they can get into a 900 division in boot camp (kind of a boot camp version of the honor guard), they usually get invited to the briefing, or if you talk to the RDC’s about the guard they should know what you’re talking about, though I’m not positive that they will be able to get an invite -SN Childs. A good article on this is here. Their page is here.
How to join the Air Force Honor Guard
For Basic Training Recruits: Talk with your recruiter from the first moment and make sure everyone in your Chain of command in Basic knows that you want to join the honor guard. The honor guard actively recruits from Basic with briefings there on a regular basis.
For Active Duty Airmen: Generate a special duty application that includes all the necessary documentation (See SPECAT or contact hgrecruiting@bolling.af.mil). Mail Package to:
USAF Honor Guard
Attn: RECRUITING
50 Duncan Ave. Ste 1
Joint Base Bolling-Anacostia, DC 20032
Once packages are received by the USAF Honor Guard the routing process begins. All packages are reviewed by the following offices: Unit Security, Recruiting & Admission, Operations, Chief Enlisted Manager, and the unit Commander.
Once the approval process is complete by the hiring authorities your information will be forwarded to AFPC for functional release from your primary AFSC. Upon approval from the USAF Honor Guard hiring authority, the members Functional Manager (FM) will be notified for release for the special duty assignment. Once the Career Field Manager approves your release from your current AFSC the USAF Honor Guard leadership is notified and the assignment process begins. Finally, the applicant will receive a letter from the USAF Honor Guard leadership on your selection for the special duty assignment. Member’s local MPF will receive assignment RIP and forward it to your Unit CSS. PCS orders should be generated shortly thereafter. From AFHG
How to join the Coast Guard Honor Guard
The Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard represents the Commandant, the Military District of Washington and the United States Coast Guard through ceremonial operations held before world leaders and dignitaries. Ceremonies can include parades, funerals, White House dignitary arrivals, as well as presenting colors at local and official functions. Honor Guard members participate in joint service activities as well as Coast Guard functions. The Honor Guard performs in excess of 1,600 ceremonies annually. The Honor Guard is comprised of 73 members, with a Lieutenant (O-3) serving as the Honor Guard Company Commander, two Junior Officers (usually O-2) serving as Operations/Weapons Officer and Supply/Training Officer, a Chief Petty Officer (E-7) as the Honor Guard Chief, and four Petty Officers (ranging from E-4 to E-6). The remaining members of the Honor Guard are “first-tour” non-rated personnel (E-3) coming directly from Training Center Cape May. The officers and non-rates serve a two year tour of duty in the Honor Guard, while the Chief Petty Officer and Petty Officers serve four year tours. See also here.
by Senior Airman Lindsey A. Porter
11th Wing Public Affairs
8/10/2012 – JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. — Don’t move. Don’t move a single muscle.
Hours of drill and ceremony, dress rehearsal and uniform preparation have all come down to this.
Don’t move. All eyes are on you.
Standing sharp, crisp and motionless, in full U.S. Air Force Honor Guard service dress, you know how important a day like today is. This isn’t your first dog-and-pony show.
Today is different though. Today, you’ll be standing at attention, front and center, before some of the Air Force’s most-senior leaders. For 90 minutes, all eyes will be on you during the Chief of Staff of the Air Force’s transition ceremony at Joint Base Andrews.
This is what being a member of the 11th Wing and one of the world’s most-recognizable honor guard units is all about. Choosing to be a ceremonial guardsman in the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard means you’ve been training for a day like this since you joined. Read the rest here.
When standing and sitting, your posture matters.
The Foundation: In this diagram below, you can see that your feet have much to do with your posture.
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Now your hips
Your hips should be square, horizontal to the ground and rolled back.
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From radiancewellness.ca |
From bellevuewellnessone.net
Your back
The “Cross”
This is what you need to keep in mind when training, practicing, rehearsing and performing.
Shoulders
Don’t pull your shoulders back, that’s not natural. Instead, stand erect and let your shoulders fall to centered (when viewed from the side). Never let your shoulders roll forward so that you slouch!
And while sitting
From fitness-programs-for-life.com
So, the same goes when you are marching.
“Practice makes permanent.” Lt. Col. Bernard C. Lorenz always told my drill team this phrase. He was my AFJROTC instructor when I was in high school and has now passed, but I have always remembered that phrase and included it in my training. Thanks, Sir.
Practice makes permanent and education is key. We will tackle both in this article.
Many people understand practice makes permanent: go to practice/rehearsal and practice the way you would perform: stay in character (no goofing around, etc.), execute as perfectly as possible, etc. Practicing the way you perform is an excellent way to employ this phrase but, education must come before practicing- education is key.
Let’s look at feet
There are couple common problems with feet/ankles that can be helped through strengthening the ankles and also the use of orthotics (inserts for your shoes).
Foot issues while marching/walking:
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From orthotics.com |
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From theshoereview.com
Two more common problems:
However, some people have their toes point outward:
Or inward:
It’s best to have your feet land centered and flat and then roll forward:
If your unit uses the 45-degree stance, then you last two steps create this angle, every other step should be straight.
So, how in the world does “practice makes permanent” work here?
I’m glad you asked! It took me a while, but I worked on my marching technique each day when I walked. I still do actually, and you can do it as well. Work each day when you are walking wherever and no one has to know that you are working on your marching technique. Here’s how to do it:
Hit your heel squarely on the ground, keep your foot straight and roll through the step to the center of your toes.
Stairs
Don’t stomp! Use your leg muscles to ascend and descend while making as little noise as possible. Use your muscles well; train your muscles.
Strengthen your ankles
Here is an example of ankle exercises.
Train a little bit every day!
From courses.vcu.edu
