Several years ago, the Wendy’s restaurant chain had a commercial with some older women asking, “Where’s the beef?” suggesting that Wendy’s competitor’s beef* patties were comparatively small. (*You would be surprised at the contents of fast food burgers.) While I do not advocate fast food at all, I do advocate asking questions and learning. Hence the title of this article, …
So, you want to be a drill team Instructor?
If you are like me, you love to work with students and teach them everything you know so that they can go off and maybe do the same while building on the foundation you’ve given them. There is another side to working with children/young adults: protecting them and even yourself against evil. I’ve never thought about this kind of danger …
Flag Drill Teams: Making Lemonade out of Lemons
The reason some of the drill teams in San Fransisco and other areas of California use swing flags instead of rifles is due to anti-gun sentiments for many years. According to their website, “The Flag Team, or FT (formerly Boys Drill Team, or BDT) descended from the Rifle [Armed Drill] Team, which was discontinued in 1994 by the San Francisco Unified …
US Military Service Drill and Ceremonies Manuals
US Military Service Drill and Ceremonies Manuals These are the manuals you need to know front-to-back, back-to-front, inside and out. While some may think this information boring, as someone affiliated with a marching program (cadet, military member, first responder, etc.), these manuals are the foundation of what you do and it is a MUST that you read your service’s …
The Cadet Series: American Military Cadets
A little-known program, but quickly gaining more and more exposure, is the American Military Cadet Corps (AMCC). It is just like US Navy Sea Cadets or Civil Air Patrol, but for the Army and like Sea Cadets, USAC offers hands-on real-world training just like Soldiers get. Pardon the expression but, USAC is Army JROTC on steroids. Strength and Honor! This motto …
All about “Color Guard” and “Color Team”
I received this question: How and why does a military color guard and marching band color guard differ? My answer: This is a great question and one that I’ve dealt with for several years since I have been a judge for marching bands, winter guards and military drill teams/color guards. So here is a detailed explanation and a little history. …
How to Hold the Rifle While at Either Shoulder
This is directly from TC 3-21.5 (count 2 of Right Shoulder). On count two, move the right hand from the barrel and grasp the heel of the butt between the first two fingers with the thumb and forefinger touching at the first joint. If you are Army (JROTC, ROTC,Army Cadets, Reserve, National Guard or Active Duty), then you must follow …
Learning by “Word of Mouth”
This year’s seniors were taught by last year’s seniors who were taught by the previous year’s seniors, etc., etc., etc. This is common in high schools across the country- unfortunately. No one reads the manual and the idea creeps in that we do it this way, meaning that at our school, we do “XYZ” like this. Where “XYZ” could be …
The Coast Guard’s Junior Leadership Program
The USCG has a JROTC-like program called the Junior Leadership Program. Here is their recruiting video: [embedplusvideo height=”360″ width=”591″ standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/UdNHhtTQZ6U?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=UdNHhtTQZ6U&width=591&height=360&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=” id=”ep9937″ /]
What are the JROTC Standards for Earning a Color Guard Shoulder Cord?
That is up to your unit. As with many JROTC awards and devices that students are eligible to wear on their uniform. That is why some JROTC cadets look like they can hardly hold up their uniform since it is so weighted down by awards while others wear just a few awards. It all depends on what the JROTC instructors …