Appreciating Creative Ability

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Back when I was about nine or 10 years old my family went out to what was supposed to be a really nice restaurant in Sun City, Arizona. My grandmother, father, mother, sister and I looked forward to having a relatively expensive but nice meal. We had reservations and walked in with plenty of time. As we entered the hostess took one look at me, a little boy in a nice pair of jeans and button-down shirt, and literally gasped out loud while putting her hand over her mouth and widening her eyes. It was such a blatant and stupid overreaction that my father immediately got fed up with her and asked to speak to the manager since we were told the restaurant did not allow “dungarees.” We were eventually seated and had a great meal and the restaurant, amazingly, did not explode because a little boy entered wearing “dungarees.”

This same sort of reaction happens now and then in the military drill world during the exhibition drill (XD) phase of competition. Only the “problem” here, like a little boy wearing jeans, is that during a performance someone “breaks bearing.” This “problem” only exists in someone’s mind.

As I recently wrote to the reader of one of my books, XD is not “prettied-up” regulation drill (RD). There isn’t any military regulation that covers XD; stop bringing your bias (certain expectations) or what you think you know or what you think the way things ought to be, to a competition. Let XD evolve with the imagination of the Driller or team.

All you do when you bring certain expectations to a competition is set yourself up to fail and if you are a judge, you make things worse for everyone involved.

When it comes to RD, we have guidelines to which we must pay strict attention and heed every letter in the form of each services’ drill and ceremonies manual. When it comes to XD, we have our imagination to let loose within the guidelines of the standard operating procedure (SOP).

How unfortunate that some are unable to appreciate another’s creative abilities. Something new may be uncomfortable to you but life is full of new experiences and that should be no different for the military drill world.

Know What to Say and How to Say it

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Reporting statements are a must for all competitive drill teams, color teams (color guards), tetrads (4-man), teandems (2-man) and solos. Even if the performance is not on the competitive field all, except for the color team, can have an introduction statement for the audience.

Team Responses for Inspection

Your team should have standardized responses for each team member when addressed by an inspector. Something like these would be good:

“Yes, Sir (or Ma’am)!

Or put Sir (or Ma’am) at the beginning and end of each statement:
“Sir (or Ma’am), Yes, Sir (or Ma’am)!”

If a team member does not know an answer, standardize a response like this:
“Sir, I do not know the answer to your question, but I will find out.”

Commanders: Reporting-in and Reporting-out

At some drill meets, a judge will walk over to the team and receive the report-in and then the team performs without an integrated report-in.

Personal note: I do not appreciate “request permission” in an integrated (within the routine) reporting statement. You are here and I’ve given you the signal that your team or you may begin. Requesting permission can sound weak.

Either before or just after the beginning of your performance, center yourself on the head judge and introduce yourself (if performing solo) or your team. Here is what I use when I was commander of my team back in high school: “Sir, the Agua Fria Air Force Junior ROTC Drill Team reporting-in to utiliza and dominate the exhibition drill deck!” After an acknowledgement, I would say, “Thank you, Sir!” If you report-in before the performance begins, “Sir, The Agua Fria Air Force Junior ROTC Drill Team requests permission to enter Exhibition Drill pad [area, floor]!”

Don’t just “request permission,” report-in! Be assertive!

For the report-out:

If it is required, just before you finish your performance, report to the head judge something like this, “Sir, this concludes the Agua Fria Air Force Junior ROTC Drill Team’s exhibition drill performance!” After an acknowledgement, “Thank you, Sir!” Don’t just march off, perform off, unless your SOP tells you that timing and judging ends there at the report-out.

“Requesting permission to continue!”

Don’t ever say this. This is what runs through my head when I’m judging and hear this:

1. You didn’t practice and created your routine 12 hours ago and forgot something and you are stalling for time to think.

2. You didn’t practice enough and are worn out and need to catch your breath.

I have no idea if either of these thoughts are true, but this is what you are communicating: something is not quite right and you are not creating the professional atmosphere that a team or soloist needs.

For Regulation Drill (including Color Team/Guard)

Reporting in and out have almost become their own entities with elaborate statements. Check the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for the drill meet you are attending, there may be some requirement. Statements are usually full of good information like this:

“Sir, XYZ high school drill team (color team) drilling in accordance with (Your Service) manual (number), reporting for regulation drill.”

Once you create the perfect statement for your school, stick with it for each phase.

What’s Wrong With These Pictures?

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What could be wrong with the following pictures?

The flags (hung back-to-back) above are each facing the right way (canton in the upper left) as you view it from either direction. Is this necessary? No, not at all, but someone took the time and cared enough to make sure that everyone, whether flying in or flying out of Melbourne, FL Airport, would see the flag properly. How nice!

Another from Melbourne, FL Airport. This flag isn’t wrong, it just being viewed from a window, on the other side it is correct.

Nothing wrong here either. These flags are posted inside my church. The Christian flag (I wrote part of a chapter on this in The Honor Guard Manual) is on the right, the position of honor, as it should be. Note that this is inside the church, it could also be outside on church grounds or somewhere else for a church function. The point is the key word there which is “church.”

Notice both flags have the gold cord and tassels. If one flag has the cord, all flags must have the cord.

How to Adjust During a Performance

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The human eye will notice whatever is moving or, if many objects are moving, will notice moving the fastest and then, within about 5 to 10 seconds, look away.

If you are on an honor guard or drill team, you know that your movements are scrutinized constantly, especially in competition. You’ve practiced your movements over and over and yet, you still end up with your feet slightly off when you pop them together or your rifle ends up on the ground two inches away from the side of your right shoe. after executing Order Arms. What do you do? You adjust. Carefully.

How Does an Honor Guard Member Adjust?
You’ve just executed Stand at Ease and can feel, through muscle memory, that your feet are wider than they are supposed to be or that they are not aligned properly. Or your on a Color Team and can feel that your hand is not completely covering the top of the rifle or the flag harness cup. What do you do? Count to 10. Really. Using the information from the beginning of this article, we know that someone is going to be watching you while you move, especially if those movements are accompanied by commands which will draw attention to the one giving the commands and that element of the team that is moving. After executing whatever movement you need to and realizing that you’ve made some sort of error, count to 10 using the 1-second method (one, one thousand; two one thousand; etc.). Once you reach ten, most likely no one will be paying attention to you and you can then ever-so-slowly move. Your movements need to be isolated to only the part that needs to move and not your whole body.

I once did a ceremony in Belgium where my color team was on a slight incline with some rocks- it was the only place for us- and we tried to slowly move individually (as we all told each other after the ceremony) to get a better footing, but it was no use, we were stuck for the hour.

What about Firing Party? Firing Party movements, when finished can leave an honor guard member with a rifle butt that has landed far from the shoe- an immediate adjustment in this instance is fine since this element of the team is relatively far from the next of kin. Training and muscle memory help a great deal with this issue, though.

What about a Drill Team?
In competition, speed is the key. One cannot always be perfect and mistakes happen. Recovering from them as quickly- and as normally (like nothing wrong happened)- is key here. Recover immediately and as quickly as possible. Or, if recovery is not possible, simply continue on with the routine like nothing went wrong.

This type of movement is not for the itch that suddenly badly needs to be scratched. Discipline takes care of that.

Pieces Parts: M1, M1903 and M14 Drill Rifle, DrillAmerica, Daisy Drill Rifle parts

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Pieces Parts: M1, M1903 and M14 Drill Rifle, DrillAmerica, Daisy Drill Rifle parts

This is Drill Life: rifles break or lose a screw. Where does a Driller go to find parts for his/her rifle? Need a butt plate for your M1? An upper band with a bayonet lug for your Daisy Drill Rifle? Look no further!

If you have a demilitarized M1 Garand, M1903, DrillAmerica 1903 or a Daisy Drill Rifle, Numrich Gun Parts Corporation, Old Western Scrounger SARCO, Inc. (a direct SARCO link for a set of 1903 parts: E-SARCO), Liberty Tree Collectors and Battlefield Relics (BFR) are your best choices for parts.

“I need an upper band with a bayonet lug for a 1903!” OK, See this article.

where to get parts, M1903 parts, M1 Garand parts, M14 parts, upper band, rifle parts, drill team, bayonet lug

Improvisation or What We Call, “Monkey Drill”

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In the military drill world improvisation is called “Monkey Drill.” If you ask any Driller who has competed more than once they will probably admit that one of their routines was “Monkeyed,” meaning that they made it up on the spot as they were performing.

Angel Solis just finished the Texas Drill Competition (TXDC) and won with a Monkeyed routine. It was not 100% improvised, the sequence from start to report-in was the only thing he had programed. The rest was made up on the spot!

Maybe right now you are thinking, “If Solis can do it, then I don’t need to create a routine ever again and I can win all of the competitions I enter!” Not so fast. The majority of Drillers will not be able to do this because drill improv requires the following:

  • A high level of comfort with your piece of equipment (sword/saber, rifle, etc.)
  • A very wide vocabulary of moves/tricks
  • The ability to not think and just create while moving- no hesitation

When I spoke with him, Angel said that as a young man, he could remember every detail of every day. He seemed to have a type of photographic memory, but only for a certain time; without regular use, some memories would fade. This is how he has the ability to constantly practice (he does put hours into practicing) and create a routine seemingly out of thin air. “When I drill,  tell a story. I don’t know how, I just do.”

I do not recommend trying to emulate Angel on the Monkeying part, but the practice and telling a story- go for it.

Special Report: US Flag Not Dipped During Parade of Nations

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That’s right, the American flag was not dipped to the “royal” box during the 2012 Olympics Parade of Nations in London, England.

“Disrespect!” you say? Nonsense. Our Flag Code give us the guidance of not dipping the flag. Other countries are different and that’s fine. America not wiping the ground with Old Glory means we hold our flag in high esteem as the symbol of our nation.

Here is a picture of gold medal-winning fencer, Mariel Zagunis, carrying the American flag from last Friday. Click on the image and you can read about her at Guideposts.

 

Balance

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If you had to do only one thing to improve your performance, what do you think it would be?

Improve Your 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. This is the greatest factor in performance- and even more so if you drill armed.

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

1. Flexibility

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.

2. Strength

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!

3. Endurance

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

4. Better Balance

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.

Now, go practice!

WDA Adjudication System

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‘We won with 13 million points! Second place had a score of 12,000.”

I pose this question to you all: In all of the military drill competitions across the USA, and probably into other countries as well, what do the scores mean? What do the point gaps mean?

I have an answer: The scores and point spreads mean nothing.

Then why have a competition? Just to find a “winner”? Or could there be a better reason for having a competition? Granted, competitions bring people together and that is a great thing: socialization, learning from each other, etc.

But is there more? I think the answer to that is a resounding “yes, there is more!” But what is that more? Let’s briefly explore the World Drill Association (WDA) Adjudication System.

The WDA judging system is quite complex and yet easy to use. One must study to be a judge, and every Driller and drill team should obtain a copy of the manual and read it thoroughly. And here is why.

  • There are four captions in the WDA system (overall effect, composition analysis, movement, and equipment) each of these captions has a sub caption (for the “what” and the “how” of the performance).
  • The scoring is on a scale of 100, much like the grading system in a school (A, B, C etc.)
  • Scores are grouped into ranges called “Boxes.”

The WDA Boxes

To see exactly what a score means, all one has to do is look at the back of the score sheet and also look in the WDA Manual. Here you will find a brief description of what a performance should look like in each score range. Boxes are also broken down into thirds to increase the accuracy of the scoring system.

  • Scores spreads in each caption and overall are based on tenths of a point and those point spreads have great significance.

WDA Point Spread Significance

 The WDA also employs a classification system for Drillers, teams and honor guards:

  • Novice- beginning
  • Junior- limited
  • A-Class- intermediate
  • Open- advanced
  • Ceremonial Class- for honor guard units

When judging, stay in caption! There is a There is a natural tendency to react to the overall effect of the performance. That’s why judges must be trained in their caption. Judges must concentrate on only their specific caption.

This judging system was designed by experts in visual adjudication in sister pageantry arts of the military drill world. I developed it for use in the military drill world.

Learning to Drop

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Apparently, some Drillers don’t plan for mistakes. This is not good! For some reason, some Drillers are taught that they’re not supposed to pick up their piece of equipment (rifle, saber/sword, guidon) when they are dropped even when performing i a competition! Unless you are part of the Marine Corps’ Silent Drill Platoon (see picture at right borrowed from Flickster), this is silly! What is worse is a Driller saluting their rifle before picking it up! Stop it!

I understand the reasoning behind this: The service honor guard drill teams do this (mostly the SDP, now) and this is an example to follow. OK. Got it. Now, stop following this guidance. It works for the SDP because of the type of show they put on; their performance is one of top-notch perfection with zero confusion and a single focus point throughout the majority of their routine. The commander of the drill team or the sergeant who is in charge at any point during the routine, are the ones who move to break ranks and fix whatever needs to be fixed. That’s the SDP way and it works well. Below is a picture of the changing of the guard at the San Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taiwan. Drops happen and when they do, other guards in civilian clothing pick up the rifle.

Meanwhile back with Agua Fria High School (my high school) JROTC’s drill team at a competition:

  • Oh no, a drop! How about we have the whole team stop what the routine so that the commander can walk over and pick up the rifle and hand it back to the team member.

Or how about this:

  • A drop! We will have the driller stop, walkover to the rifle at attention, stop in front of the rifle, render a salute and then bend over and pick up the rifle.*

*This is an embarrassing situation for the driller and also for the audience. There is absolutely no need for this kind of action. If you use this in training, it should never see the light of day in a public performance.

Do these scenarios sound like the best use of time? No. Do they add to the flow of the routine? No. Both of these scenarios detract from completely performance and offer nothing but confusion to the audience. The eye is always going to follow what is moving or what is moving faster. This is something to keep in mind when a piece of equipment is dropped. In a situation where a piece of equipment is dropped it should be taken care of as quickly as possible so as to not draw attention to the problem and keep the focus on the routine.

What does a Driller do when a drop or hit occurs?

First, a drop is where the rifle completely leaves the hands and rests on the ground. A hit is where the rifle leaves the hands and may hit or brush the ground or the body but is still recovered. You could say that a hit is more like a fumbling.

A driller needs to take care of the drop or the hit as quickly as possible. In the case of a drop including it into your routine; having the audience wonder whether it was part of your routine or not, is the best way to recover from a drop.

So, what a driller needs to do is practice recovering with style from a drop. There are several different ways one can do this it just depends on where the rifle is in relation to your body. Laying the rifle down on the ground at different points around you and experimenting with ways to recover the rifle will add to your movement vocabulary and creates loose recoveries.