Why Does The Military Drill?

I am sure that my friend Cindy can answer this question better then I can, but I think it might have to do with the fact that the military needs its members to follow orders, work as a team, have situational awareness and modify their own movements, for the better of the team. In real combat, faking out an enemy is a tool of the trade and I think that also might come into play here. Remember those pictures of Hitler's Troops goose stepping, letting the world know they were cool as all get out?
So, with this in mind, I give you an explanation of a Drill Meet.


Color Guard:
2 flag holders and two armed members, flanking the flags, for protection. Symbolizing love and respect of Country and (in our case) our State. These are the most visible group, to the public at large. Our cadets work many opening day ceremonies, school events, special events and Military events like Memorial Day. Go to a Walmart Opening Day and there will be a flag ceremony with our Color Guard in attendance. These cadets have incredible respect for our Flag and are quite dedicated to protecting and defending it.

Drill:
There are 2 main categories of drill, armed and unarmed. Armed drill means that the unit carries some sort of weapon and they build a routine using these weapons as a prop, spinning and or throwing them.
Unarmed drill is that the group builds a routine, strictly with movements of their team members and with no other props. The must be in sync, at all times, due to their not having anything else to distract people with. :-)


Three categories they compete in are:

Inspection: Their dress must be flawless, no stains on the shirts, no fingerprints on the belt buckles, shoes shined bright, pins positioned correctly, gig line straight, etc. Personal grooming counts too. Men must be clean shaven. Hair severely tied back into a bun, for the girls. Hair cut short, in a military style, for the men. At our Competition yesterday, one kid was inspected for dirt behind his ears! These inspectors miss nothing. While they are inspecting you, they are screaming at the cadets constantly and the cadets must answer questions. Not only about the inspection going on, but about knowledge. Who is the Secretary of Defense? Who is the Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces? My favorite question at one Competition was: What is your A-Gee-E? As in, What is your age? Many kids missed that one. :-)
Staying cool under fire, is what they look for and knowledge of what is going on in the world, is a must.
(FYI: In answer to the questions, Honorable George W. Bush is Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces and Honorable Robert M. Gates is the Secretary of Defense.)

Regulation:
A list of Drill Commands (Known as a Drill Card) are given to the commander, at the beginning of the routine and the commander must call the commands and the team must successfully execute the commands. This puts everyone on an equal footing and confirms that the team knows how to drill.

Exhibition:
This is where creativity comes in. Each team makes their own routine, using the commands, along with hand motions (drill), swords or rifles. Using the entire drill pad is encouraged and not stepping out of the lines is important. Unity of the members in whatever maneuver they perform is what is being looked at. A good routine incorporates all elements of Drill and includes the unexpected.


Some teams do aerial work, picking up a team member, similar to something cheerleaders do, but done with precision, not just throwing someone around. Some groups hire choreographers to devise the routines. One all women's group we see often, drills in double time and wiggles their hips as they perform. We just shake our heads, because to us, it just doesn't look military. lol

For any who don't understand drill, If you got to the end of this post, I hope it helped you to understand. Watch out though, you will never be able to watch a drill routine the same, again. :-)

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Photos:
1. Drill Team
2. Color Guard
3. Sword Team
4 Rifle Team
5. Drill Team Again