Before we begin: I am not a medical doctor, nor do I play one in this book (or TV or anywhere else). This article is not a substitute for obtaining professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Now, on to the article. Many exhibition Drillers (you are not an “exhibitionist” unless you remove your clothing while spinning the rifle) have spent some time dealing …
The JROTC “Feeder” Program
If your JROTC unit does not have a plan on how to recruit at the local elementary schools that feed your high school, then you need to implement a strategy this school year! JROTC programs need cadets, that we know. If 8th-grade students are unaware of the benefits of JROTC (leadership, organization skills, drill team, etc.), then those students will probably …
The Terror of the Dropped Rifle
See these related articles: How Drops Affect Scoring & Learning to Drop. Salute! Imagine this: you are a judge at a JROTC competition assigned to judge one of the exhibition drill categories. During a performance, a cadet drops his rifle, comes to attention, salutes the rifle, picks it up and continues on with the performance. The “Face-Palm” action would be inappropriate in …
How to Teach Exhibition Drill
You may not “know the drill”… If you have my books, Exhibition Drill for the Military Drill Team, Vols I & II, you probably have an idea of the process of writing drill, (here is a simple “Boxes of Three” method for creating drill) but might not understand the application of taking what has been written on a DrillMaster Routine …
How to Create a Tetrad, a 4-Man Exhibition Team
Drill teams come in all sizes for different reasons. Teams can range in size from nine to twenty five members with or without a commander marching outside of the formation. A tetrad, the shorter name for a four- or five-man exhibition drill team, creates a performance for small areas like a ballroom dance floor or on a stage.
Resistance to Change: Betrayal?
I felt the need to follow up the article that published last week, Resistance to Change: The Five Monkeys Syndrome. My help is sought out on a consistent basis from high school and college drill teams and also first responder honor guard units. I teach courses and, when asked, also give free advice over the phone, through email or on videos …
Resistance to Change: The Five Monkeys Syndrome
Even if you are a cadet in high school JROTC or in Sea Cadet, Young Marines, etc. you may have come across this syndrome. If you are an adult, you most definitely have come across this. Please watch this short video before reading on and it will explain. Image courtesy of Sharon Browning and Associates. [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-PvBo75PDo[/embedyt] Now, we are …
What is “Readability”?
Readability describes something that we can easily read. We get that. When we pick up a newspaper or look at a magazine article, we find it easy to read and comprehend, in general. We can read a master’s degree thesis and find complex words, phrases and sentence structure. On the other hand, we can look at a child’s first paper …
Post-High School Exhibition Drill
Until about 2005, there were not very many post-high school soloists, or at least high school graduates who loved to spin a rifle and could compete or perform in public. Nothing really existed for Drillers except for New Guard America (NGA) which began in the 1990s under the direction of my college friend, Constantine Wilson. That is until 2007/8. Michael, …
Outstanding Unarmed Exhibition Drill
Many JROTC drill teams here in America have yet to consider unarmed drill on this scale. I encourage you to explore drill on this level with your team whether armed or not. The gentleman calling the commands has been doing this for years and has increased the complexity of the program with each new team. [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba8IH6EfGqU[/embedyt]