Excellence is More Than “Clean”

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“Clean” has many different definitions. In visual terms, however, we use it to mean, “having no needed corrections; easily readable”. WHOA! what is this “easily readable” stuff, are we are talking about drill teams? Yes, drill teams are a part of the visual performance family. This family includes, dance, marching band, step, etc. Click here for my article explaining Readability. See …

Create Goals, not Dreams

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But not just goals, SMART Goals The difference between a goal and a SMART goal is your goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. SMART goals give you a much better avenue to reach your goals. Your dreams are the fuel that drives the high-performance goal engine. Specific Broad, general terms are not going to help. What, …

The Firefighter’s Ceremonial Axe Manual

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See also the article, Resistance to Change: Betrayal?, for some insight that may help dealing with this sometimes rather touchy issue. Why an axe manual in the first place? Firefighter honor guard units use two of their tools as ceremonial equipment that are normally used to fight fires. When I first began writing my book, The Honor Guard Manual, I wanted …

Resistance to Change: Betrayal?

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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

DrillMasterColor Guard/Color Team, Drill Team Training, Drill Teams, DrillMotivation, Honor Guard, Honor Guard Training, Instructional Leave a Comment

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 …

The Military Cordon

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Military cordons (two lines of people, armed or unarmed, facing each other) are used for arrival/departure ceremonies and awards banquets. While the rifle manual here needs work, they do a fine job.   If you have any questions, please ask.

Drill Team and Honor Guard Unit Training

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In the military, we train. And we train, and train and train. We have major training scenarios (exercises) that involve multiple services and other countries, we have them for a single military installation, single unit training, all the way down to military specialty and ancillary training for each individual. It’s time consuming, but well worth the effort. After all, lives …

Honor Guard Training Q and A with The DrillMaster

DrillMasterColor Guard/Color Team, Honor Guard, Honor Guard Training, Instructional 8 Comments

Do you have an honor guard question? I am happy to answer it! Q: We already have 9 people committed to being on the Honor Guard. Is there a minimum/maximum that is desired? A: For my courses, yes, 12-25 trainees. For an honor guard, no, not really. Most of what you will do will be colors presentations for ceremonies and …

Beating a Performance Plateau with New and Improved!

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Do you know why products are constantly puting new labels on them with words like: “NEW!” or “NEW and IMPROVED!” Comfort. We become comfortable with the things we have or use and we may be happy with using XYZ dish washing liquid for the rest of our lives, but the advertisers want to make sure you can’t live without it! …

Astronaut War Eagle Drill Meet Performance Critiques

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Astronaut High School’s Army JROTC hosted the 2015 War Eagle Drill Meet at their school in Titusville, FL on the 21st of February. I judged Unarmed Squad, used a new score sheet as a trial and recorded my usual commentary as the performances progressed. These recordings are standard in pageantry arts with music and visual judges giving feedback. My recordings …