Kentucky’s Junior Guard Program

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If you are a member of the military drill world then you have most likely heard of JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Program) which is in hundreds of high schools across the nation; ROTC, the senior program that is in hundreds of colleges and universities, is the senior partner. Each branch of the military has an ROTC program: Army, Marines, …

JSDC12

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Yes, it is another Joint Service Drill Competition that is now in the history books! This year’s competition also included a performance from the Tulane University Mardis Gras Drill Meet champions, the Merchant Marine Academy Drill Team. I judged each team on the World Drill Association Adjudication System’s Overall Effect caption. The scores I gave each team are in the …

Military Drill Judging

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For decades the only requirement to be qualified to judge a military drill competition was graduation from a service’s Basic Training. That’s it. You’re now able to rank and rate and assign a score to what you see on the competitive field. And what’s better is if you are a Drill/Training Instructor or on an honor guard. Somehow, you are …

Hard Work, Discipline, Desire and…

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I was introduced to a speech by Eric Thomas, “The Hip-Hop Preacher” (more motivational speaker than preacher) yesterday. I appreciate where he has come from, the struggles he has overcome and most of the message that he preaches. Much of what he says is inspiring and one of my friends made a great motivational video and placed it on his …

Why do we Practice the way we do?

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Sometimes students have a hard time understanding why it is we spend so much time working on individual skills, when it’s easy to see that most of the team can do the skills. I tell them it’s a lot like a sports team. Every experienced baseball player has skills – they already know how to run, how to hit, and …

Becoming a Professional Driller

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Q: How can I become a professional Driller? A: What you are talking about is becoming an Independent (Indie) Driller which very few people have done successfully. Why very few? Most likely because the military drill world is relatively small and there hasn’t been anything offered to anyone who would like to drill after high school or even college. Within …

Dipping the American Flag

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I read this short article that was sent to me by a retired Marine friend of mine: The 1908 Summer Olympics were held in London, England were extremely controversial. Many of the medals were won by Irish and Irish-American athletes who were not only members of the Irish American Athletic Club of Celtic Park in Sunnyside, Queens, but also members …

Tulane 2012 Solo Commentaries

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The Mardis Gras Drill Meet at Tulane University 2012 was a great success! I was there judging solos. There were 12 competitors and all did a great job. The cadets from West Point, University of South Carolina NROTC and Norwich all pulled away from the others with great routines. I forgot my digital voice recorder, but used my Android phone’s …

Pssst. Hey Buddy, wanna buy an M1903?

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Armed Exhibition Drill Rifles for Sale How to buy a demilitarized Rifle It’s relatively easy to purchase a demilitarized (demil’d) rifle from the the companies below. If you already have a Federal Firearms License (FFL), then you can order the rifle straight from the company. If you do not have an FFL, you can go to your local gun dealer …