Today, DrillMaster has a guest author! Hello fellow drill mates, This article will talk about the steps to planning and coordinating a Color Guard event! To give you a little bit of information about myself, I am Alex Pantaleo, a Cadet 2nd Lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol. I have attended the Pennsylvania Wing Honor Guard Academy in 2013, then …
The DrillMaster JROTC Competition Study Sheet
This is a beginning for you, it is not the be-all and end-all of study sheets. Use it or take it and modify it and use that. Whatever you do, you need to be prepared for your inspection and have answers at the ready. Actually, your response and not just the answer itself, is more of your grade. Download the …
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 …
The Difference Between Training, Practice, and Rehearsal
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
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 …
Exhibition Drill: Who do you want to be?
Exhibition Drill: Who do you want to be?
How to Switch from Regualtion Drill to Exhibition Drill
A short time ago a student friend of mine sent me a video of his armed solo performance asking for feedback (I give real-time audio feedback on performances of Drillers and teams in the WDA Adjudication System: Overall Effect, Composition Analysis, Marching & Equipment- usually a combined critique of a little from each caption). To preface the video, he told …
The Opening Statement
When I judge, I create a commentary/critique of each performance during the performance and I then post it on my website here for the Drillers/teams to download and listen to. On many of my recordings, you can hear me talk about the Driller’s or team’s “opening statement.” But what is this opening statement? Defining the Term In military exhibition drill …
Copy or Version?
Direct Copy Let’s say I watch a movie, Men in Black, and I really like Will Smith’s song at the end and I’d like to listen to it from time-to-time. I look it up on a music service for my smart phone and find it. I buy and download it only to find out it’s a generic version of the …
Where can I find a complete list of exhibition drill moves?
Some other countries use a separation of terms: Foot Drill and Rifle Drill. At The DrillMaster, we use “Drill” as meaning the feet; Unarmed Exhibition Drill (UXD) and Armed Exhibition Drill (AXD) to mean the body and equipment movement layered over the drill for the feet. On with the question. In General There isn’t such a thing as a “complete …