DRILL ON THE PARADE SQUARE

[Nfld Sapper]

In 1VP, the extent of our drill for the most part is forming up in 3 ranks, attention, stand at east, and then dismissal.

New drill movement?

;D

 

[c4th]

You are right. My issue is not with teaching drill, it is with the mindset that drill teaches a soldier anything other than what to do when on parade.

Drill is used today for the same reasons it has been used for millennia.  Until their is no reason to move a body of soldiers from point A so that they arrive at point B at the same time in the correct order or formation we will continue to teach and use drill.  Drill has always been tactical.  Clearing ground in two up has it's foundation in advance in review order.  Advancing to or withdrawling  battle is orderly because it has a foundation moving right or left in file or column of route.  Drill teaches soldiers to react immediately and instinctively to orders.  Drill teaches junior leaders to give clear and concise orders.  All of tactical value. 

I have not read the article that there is no time to teach drill but as an instructor of infantry soldiers If recruits did not come from BMQ knowing drill I would make the time to teach it to them for the sole reason that in the end it saves me time and saves unnecessary yelling.

Drill does not end at the edge of the parade square.  Drills are the nuts and bolts of much of what is done in the combat arms.  Thinking back to flying, their were drills there too.  I'm sure there still is.  At least it looks like there is whenever I get in and out of aircraft.

What i got from it was that drill sucks and i now have bad knees and a bad back..

You're doing it wrong

I would rather sports be used as a means of instilling teamwork. tell a platoon of recruits they will get a weekend off if the beat the other platoon at ball hockey and they will learn fast to work as a team and will be proud of their accomplishment.

The obstacle course can also be used. finish the course is x amount of time or less and get (insert reward here)...

The beauty of drill is my executives while giving it don't include bribes.  I see no need to issue commands such as Move-To-The-Left-In-Threes-And-You'll-Get-A-Smoke-Break, or Quick-March-and-You'll-Get-A-Week-End-Off.  I issue commands and it happens.  Voila! 

Sports and obstacle courses have their place and is a good use of time for fitness and team building.  But not everyday can be grade 12 PE.  Injuries from physical training and sports far outstrip any earned on the parade square.  Sports keep MIR's on a five day work week not drill.

Do we need battalion parades every morning.  Probably not, but they are useful at least a couple of times a week. 

 

[aesop081]

we will continue to teach and use drill. 

Again, i never said we should stop teaching or stop using drill.

  Drill teaches junior leaders to give clear and concise orders. 

Hardly. It teaches them to memorize commands and use them on parade. I learned to give clear and concise orders in training ( formal and informal) and on-the-job, not on the parade grounds or in drill class on my JNCO course.
 

  Drills are the nuts and bolts of much of what is done in the combat arms.

"drills" yes........"drill" no.

Thinking back to flying, their were drills there too.  I'm sure there still is.

Yup there is. After more that 2200 flying hours i can honestly say that i did not learn to follow them due to any time spent in drill classes or a parade square. I learned to follow them by seeing what happens when you dont.

I see no need to issue commands such as Move-To-The-Left-In-Threes-And-You'll-Get-A-Smoke-Break, or Quick-March-and-You'll-Get-A-Week-End-Off.

Not once did i suggest we do that.

I issue commands and it happens.  Voila!

Yet i manage to accomplish the same thing daily ( my direction is followed). I am doing something wrong indeed.

 

[Kirkhill]

.....and when it does it becomes easier to learn and master other military skills, many of which require attention to detail and perseverance

Shades of Warrant Angus Muise...... "Pay attention to detail, Sir, and the words of command for."


There is something immensely comforting about multiple heels (2 or 2000) striking the cobbles at the same time.  It drives you forward - even after years out of uniform.

Drill does indeed matter.

 

[Kirkhill]

Obvious I have only recently discovered this thread.  Its funny to see the usual suspects sticking to their various "party lines".  Sailors shuffle.  Airmen saunter.  Infanteers debate the merits of 110, 120 and 140 paces to the minute and the glories of "Check, drag, crack" vs "Halt, One, Two".

Memo to Michael O'Leary:  Refer this thread to bayonet thread and my suggestion to revert to the Spontoon.

For BMT issue Spontoon as personal weapon, perfect accompaniment for Close Order Drill.  It would also create nice little bodies of anti-riot troops.  ;D


"To begin with the LDV (aka The Look, Dook and Vanish) were issued with 250,000 pikes - bayonets welded onto metal poles. "  Scroll about half way down in the text to see the reference.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Shades of Warrant Angus Muise......

Well, that just sent a shudder up my spine .....

 

[kratz]

I am being polite, thank goodness for CDN Aviator's posts.

WRT my Log Dept drill. The majority of the time, we have already done the spacing ect...that will already be comanded. Our DS check us as per normal and rarely find our department out of order.

Do not disparage who carries his own pipe.

 

[1feral1]

HI I AM DOING MY SOLDIERS QUALIFICATION COURSE RIGHT NOW BUT I AM STILL HAVING TROUBLE REMEMBERING
ALL THE DRILL,OPEN ORDER MARCH,CLOSE ORDER MARCH.......................

The Aussie calling out the time (in one's head) for these two movements are entirely different, but even after 34 years, I can still remember the CF times for these movements, it was 1-1-1-2!

Fear not, it will get drilled into you like it did me, and 34 yrs later you'll still remember.

OWDU

 

[a_majoor]

While I agree fully with the idea that sports or the obstacle course (or long distance orienteering, or competitions to answer regimental history questions etc. etc.) are great ways to build team work and morale, most require a much greater investment in time and resources than 1X NCO and a piece of relatively flat ground.

There are lots of Reserve armouries which may once have been out in the boonies but are now surrounded by urban sprawl and have no dedicated sports fields or obstacle courses. I have been on bases where trying to book an obstacle course was a pretty remarkable exercise in overcoming (bureaucratic) obstacles in it's own right.

Drill has lasted thousands of years because it is a quick, cheap and effective means of teaching teamwork and obedience. Douglas Bland's argument against teaching parade square drill was based on the fact parade square drill no longer has an immediate tactical application (our parade square drill is evolved from tactical evolutions from the age of black powder warfare, and any British officer or NCO under the Duke or Wellington would recognize it [and probably be very critical of how we do it as well!]). Never the less, the mental attitudes and conditioning are important underlying factors in performing modern battle drills.