Bob
Sullivan's Drill Tips
OR:
Tips For Better Drill, Learned The Hard Way At Military School.
I
attended military school for the first 11 years of my education. The reason it
wasn't 12 is because the school dropped the military between my junior and
senior years. The various companies of which I was a member (from private up to
company commander) won the annual drill competitions in 1st, 4th, 6th, 9th,
10th, and 11th grade. I learned these tips while drilling in school. When I got
into reenacting, I shared them with my group. We attended an annual competition
in which we won the drill competition 4 years running.
A
short story before we get started:
In
1983, I went with a group of about 150 re-enactors to Paris to celebrate the
bicentennial of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. We stayed at a French
military barracks. The first day we turned out to practice, we marched around
the parade. We were so bad the French troops were laughing at us. We went away
to practice, and practiced for 90 minutes. During those 90 minutes, the tips I
am about to share with you were used, and used extensively. The next day, we
formed up on the parade and marched out. The French were no longer laughing.
Each day we marched around the parade and out of the barracks to do another
show. The day we left, we gave a gift to the commander of the barracks. As Bill
Brown, our military commander on the trip related to me later, the French
commander told him, "Monsieur, your men have (pause) élan." I don't
think we could have received a higher compliment.
These tips
are divided into tips for the soldier and tips for the commander. They are
independent of any drill manual. It's not what drill you use, but how you
do it.
For
the Commander:
Know your men. Call them by name when correcting them. It give the appearance
that you are watching each individual, rather than just casting your eyes over
the group. When I was in charge of a platoon, I had identical twins in it.
(Remember, in military school we were wearing uniforms, so everyone dressed
exactly alike.) Some of their teachers couldn't tell them apart, but I could.
They wanted to know how I could, and I refused to tell them until the last day
of school, because I didn't want them changing and confusing me. In my platoon,
I could look down the line and recognize people by their shoes. And they were
all plain black shoes, too. I'm not bragging, it was my job to know the people
in my platoon.
1. Never, ever, use the following phrase by itself: "Get in Step". Who
is out of step? Call him by name and tell him to get in step.
2. By the same token, never EVER, yell "Dress!" Who is out of line?
How is he out of line? Tell him which way to move to align himself with
everyone else.
3. The stupidest and most useless correction known is this phrase: "Do it
together!"
4. Always allow at least three beats (steps if you're marching) between the
preparatory command and the command of execution. If your commands will be
echoed, you must give your preparatory commands far enough in advance to allow
three beats between the last echoed preparatory command and your command of
execution. For those of you who aren't sure what a preparatory command and a
command of execution are, "Forward" is a preparatory command, and
"March!" is a command of execution.
5. Don't echo the command if your unit isn't doing the command. It sounds
simple, but I can't tell you how many times I have heard officers in column
screaming commands that their units are not supposed to execute until they reach
the point of the command.
6. There should be no difference in the timing of commands when in place or on
the march. Since in place commands (facings, manual of arms) are done at the
same speed as marching commands, there should be no difference in the timing of
the commands.
7. Teach your men to drill with a drummer. Have the drummer beat the marching
beat as you do the facings and manual of arms. That is the speed at which the
commands are supposed to be done anyway, so use the musician. As in
"Right", "Face!", one, two. "Shoulder",
"Arms", one two, three.
8. Note that in every manual of arms, every command says "Two
motions", or "Three motions", etc. They never say "One long
motion with no stops and starts". Emphasize the individual motions. You
will be surprised how much "crisper" your drill will be, even when not
emphasizing the motions.
9. Every once in a while, take a musket in YOUR hands and drill with it. Note
how uncomfortable it becomes when held in one position for any length of time.
Note how difficult it is to execute the next command promptly and crisply when
you have held it in one position for any length of time. Remember that.
10. If you are going to be performing a series of commands, practice that entire
series together, not the individual maneuvers. If it isn't done right, then
start from the beginning and do it again. Keep doing the entire routine until it
is done right. This not only teaches your men what's expected of them, but also
helps them memorize what they are going to do. That way, if they can't hear your
command because a cannon went off, it doesn't matter, because they know that
they are supposed to turn right here anyway. In senior high we won our drill
competition year after year, because we practiced the routine (not the
individual commands in it) we were going to use so often every person in the 200
man company knew what command was coming next.
11. If your unit isn't going to move for one minute, rest them. If your unit
isn't going to move in five minutes, stack arms and dismiss them. They'll come
on line that much quicker when the command to fall in is given.
12. In hot weather, never force your men to stand in the sun when there is shade
nearby. See rule nine.
13. When beginning a drill on the manual of arms, run through the manual of
arms. Dismiss those who don't make mistakes. Civil War troops had an
"awkward squad" for a reason. Don't penalize your men who attend all
the events and know the drill, by making them drill with those who don't.
14. Practice doesn't make perfect. Mediocre practice just reinforces bad habits.
Good practice makes for good drill. If someone is doing it wrong, tell him. They
can't do it right unless you tell them. The length of time you practice doesn't
necessarily make your troops drill better. If you really want to drill them for
two hours, do it in two one-hour segments. Remember, even Stonewall Jackson
marched his men only fifty minutes in an hour.
For
the Soldier:
Take pride in what you are doing. You are representing a soldier. Do it. Listen
to your officer. He is responsible for the well being of his men. He will take
care of you. If he doesn't, elect another one next year. Or find a new unit.
1. Never, NEVER, NEVER, move your head. From a distance, it is impossible to see
fingers moving, it is difficult to see feet move slightly, but you might as well
send up a flare when you move your head. Everyone's hat reflects the light, and
as soon as you move your head, the light reflection off of the top of your hat
is different. You might just as well hold up a big sign that says, "I'm
moving!"
2. Read
rule 1 again.
3. Look with your eyes, not your head. God gave you the ability to turn your
eyes to see to the side. Use this ability. If you want to check your alignment,
turn your eyes, not your head. The worst offenders are those who lean out and
look to check their alignment. What are these people thinking about?
4. You are responsible for maintaining a certain distance between yourself and
the man in front of you. Never change that distance. When 20 men are marching in
column, if each man is three inches farther from the man in front than he is
supposed to be, then the last man is FIVE FEET out of position.
5. When
your officer says, "March", go. If you step on the heel of the man in
front of you, it is HIS fault for not moving.
6. When your officer says, "Halt", stop. If you have followed rule 4,
you will be in the right place. If you have to close up, it's YOUR fault because
you didn't maintain your distance.
7. When marching in line, stay even with the man next to you. That's all. Not
the colors, not the sergeant, not anybody but the man next to you. Never mind
what the officer says. If everybody does this, then everybody's in line.
Besides, your peripheral vision doesn't allow you to see more than one or two
men down the line anyway. And, rule one is NEVER move your head. If your
judgment or alignment is off, the sergeant or corporal will tell you to move up
or back. He won't just yell "Dress!", because he has read rule 2 in
his section.
8. Work on every motion in the manual of arms. Not command, motion. Make them
separate motions, with a slight pause between each. You really do have the time
to do this.
9. When placing the rifle on or off your shoulder, NEVER MOVE YOUR HEAD (Rule 1
again). What's the matter? Don't you trust yourself to move your own musket
around without hitting yourself in the head with it?
10. When
you are performing the manual of arms and have finished the last motion of a
command, FREEZE. If the rifle is in the wrong place, or if your hand is not
quite in the right place, or your foot is slightly out of line, DON'T MOVE. The
next command will be coming along shortly. If you don't move, people have to
look very carefully at all of the men to find your error. If you move after
everyone else has stopped, you just pointed out your mistake to anyone who is
watching. Again, you might just as well hold up that big sign that says
"I'm moving!"
Well, those are my tips. They work. I have my name on the trophies and plaques
to prove it. I know all of you hate me by now. Some of you are saying, "Who
in the heck is a sutler to tell us how to drill?" Officers will hate me
because I'm telling the men to do some things differently. The men will hate me
because I'm telling them to take responsibility for their drill. If everybody
hates me, you'll want to prove that I'm wrong by drilling well. Good, because
I'll be watching.
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