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 …
Drill Team and Honor Guard Unit Training
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
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 …
Astronaut War Eagle Drill Meet Performance Critiques
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 …
January: Drill Season is Here!
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 …
Programming, Continued
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 …
Armed Driller Alternatives
‘Part One’ of this post is here: Psst, Hey Buddy. Armed Exhibition Drill Rifles for Sale The above blog post is great if you want to buy a demilitarized rifle or even a working 1903, M14 or M1 Garand, but what else is out there and are these alternatives right for military drill? Well, let’s look and see: Let’s start …
How to Become a Certified Visual Judge
The World Drill Association and DrillMaster now offer a training and certification program for judges for the military drill world. All aspects of military drill come under the visual category and should be judged as such. That is where the program comes in. There are four visual captions: 1. Overall Effect 2. Composition Analysis 3. Movement 4. Equipment Also a …
Tulane 2012 Solo Commentaries
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 …