January: Drill Season is Here!

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While some JROTC units have a busy first semester that includes drill meets, for many across America January is when the competitions begin. Some states, like Florida, do not have any drill meets until the end of January, leaving the first semester to Raider meets. Maybe, like the school where I teach, Merritt Island High School, you have been having …

The Difference Between Training, Practice, and Rehearsal

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It may seem strange, even silly, to define practice, training and rehearsal down to the “nth” degree. Always remember, “Education is key!” Note: there are JROTC units that do not have the luxury of an experienced drill coach. Many JROTC instructors have never marched much past their Basic Training or Boot Camp days and that’s OK. Our military jobs came first …

Programming, Continued

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Apparently “dropping the base” can have something to do with describing how one creates a routine and, while that may have some sort of relevance at the moment, this description could very well have lost its meaning in a short time. I’ll stick with terms that designers have used for decades. Below, are the Seven Parts of and Exhibition Drill …

The Guidon’s Two Different Salutes

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While each service (Army, MC/Navy/CG and AF/SF) has a slightly different way of having the guidon render a salute while in formation, there is another salute rendered by a guidon that each service requires when outside of a formation when the guidon bearer is on his/her own.

Perfect Drill Team Rifle Tosses

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The picture, below, is of a winter guard (a marching band color guard that performs indoors, see WGI) back in the 1980s. In the picture you can see the rifles are at the exact same angle while in the air and the arms, legs and bodies of the guard members are very close to being the same.  Drill Teams: this …

What is “Flow”?

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This is Flo at the Top Her name is right there on her name tag. However, we are talking about, “flow” in armed and unarmed exhibition drill which is broken into three different types. This is not Flow Before we get into the two types of flow, let’s quickly go over what flow isn’t. Flow is not a sequence like this: …

A Graph of Military Drill

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A Graph of Military Drill Over the years, I’ve been asked by high school students for information on drill teams so that they could write speeches, research papers or something similar. This article is just another step in that direction. See also, What is a Military Drill Team? ,The Seven Parts of an Exhibition Drill Routine and Where’s the Power? plus many more. This …

Grammar Rules and Exhibition Drill “Rule” Equivalents

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A routine is like a document that contains words, sentences, paragraphs and, finally, a “story.” We communicate through writing and we communicate through our actions as well. One aspect of exhibition drill is clear communication. Here we take a look at how to effectively communicate. Grammar Rules and Exhibition Drill “Rule” Equivalents Above, the word, “Rule” is in quotes because, …