Sergeant Major Marching Up & Down the Parade Square - Return to Spit & Polish

[Fishbone Jones]

Wearing a swinging kilt, and the camouflage provided by a pipe band, helps....  ;D

Hard to get that swish and sway down if you're marching normally

 

[OldSolduer]

Hard to get that swish and sway down if you're marching normally

Even harder at 140 to the minute....plus the problem of the Double Past.......

 

[Rifleman62]

At the Trail.

 

[Pusser]

But was she hot?

Oh yeah!

 

[OldSolduer]

Oh yeah!

Ummmm I don't suppose you took a picture??

 

[Rifleman62]

My, and I dare say most, Reserve units manage less than an hours practice before we get on the bus to head for the cenotaph.

When HRH Prince Charles visited The Royal Winnipeg Rifles for the first time as Colonel-in-Chief, Apr 79, we had one night of practice (3 hours). An excellent parade was conduced.

HRH in his remarks "I have been called many things, but never before a Little Black Devil".

I dread having to march on parade with our local Highland unit.

Just swagger and roll with the pipes and drums.

 

[Pusser]

Ummmm I don't suppose you took a picture??

I think that would have been a tad crass.  Besides, my memory of what I thought I saw is usually much better than any photograph.  Sailors's stories, like fine wine, get better with age! ;D

 

[Pusser]

Even so, because of a solid foundation and regular use of drill, there was likely no problems adapting and looking professional.

Hardly "Quick" more like, "By the left' stroll" ;D I dread having to march on parade with our local Highland unit 8)

I still remember practicing for the sunrise service  at the Earl's Court Legion (Toronto) many years ago.  As we were marching up and down the square, the petty officer who was drilling us (and who was not known for political correctness) said, "and remember that you will be marching slower than normal because you will be behind a bunch of Presbyterian bag-squeezers!"  At this point, all semblance of order was then lost.  Nevertheless, we acquitted ourselves quite well on the day itself and the post-ceremony coffee with breakfast  back at the legion hall was outstanding!

My apoligies to anyone offended by the aforementioned comment, but it's difficult to censor something that was actually said.  I also remembered thinking at the time that most Highlanders are actually Catholic, but thought better of mentioning that little factoid...

 

[Kirkhill]

No, the solution is not to make up reasons to do extra drill. The solution is to rationalize what drill is needed, and to establish how to maintain required competencies with a minimum of chickenshit to ensure that any anticipated events requiring presentable drill can be achieved with a minimum of special preparatory practice. It is also reasonable to assume that the level of expectation regarding types of events and the drill required for them will not be the same for each type of unit.

Fair enough.  Apologies for another Kirkhill flash in the pan.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Right then, here's the solution.....

Issue shields and batons,  add a couple of paragraphs to the manual of Drill and Ceremonial to accomodate the required "Order, Arms" drill and then you can designate half the square bashing time as ACP training - and all those fancier moves that seldom get practiced will suddenly become useful when placed in context of manoeuvering in the face of an enemy (even if they are just youngsters in black balaclavas with rocks).

Oh, I like riots ... stop teasing me  ;D

Anyways, I would say that it's all part of that 'morale' thing. If you've got good morale, you can do anything. If not, you can't even do a little foot drill :

"Too, the definition cuts through one of the oldest myths in the military book - that morale comes from discipline....The process is precisely the reverse: whether on the field of battle or in 'pirouetting up and down a barrack yard' as Carnot's phrase has it, true discipline is the product of morale." - S.L.A. Marshal, Men Against Fire, 1947


http://regimentalrogue.com/quotes/quotes_discipline3.htm

 

[PanaEng]

Anyways, I would say that it's all part of that 'morale' thing. If you've got good morale, you can do anything. If not, you can't even do a little foot drill :

"Too, the definition cuts through one of the oldest myths in the military book - that morale comes from discipline....The process is precisely the reverse: whether on the field of battle or in 'pirouetting up and down a barrack yard' as Carnot's phrase has it, true discipline is the product of morale." - S.L.A. Marshal, Men Against Fire, 1947

http://regimentalrogue.com/quotes/quotes_discipline3.htm

ding, ding, ding, ding...
We have a winner!
(now I'm going to click on the little button with the x on it and hope to never see this thread again...
an hour of my life that I'll never get back - was like slowing down on the hway to see the accident on the other lanes)
on second thought, I guess some things needed to said and they were said; and I won't repeat them  :-X

 

[Journeyman]

Anyways, I would say that it's all part of that 'morale' thing. If you've got good morale, you can do anything. If not, you can't even do a little foot drill

Soldiers complain; it's in the rules.
If your biggest complaint is periodically doing drill for having taken the Queen's shilling, I'd suggest that life isn't too bad.


Mind you, as Will Rogers said, "we can't all be heroes; someone has to sit on the curb and clap as the parade goes by."
Personally, I can sit in the bleachers, listening to a military band and watch slow marching all day.  ;D

 

[dapaterson]

Soldiers complain; it's in the rules.
If your biggest complaint is periodically doing drill for having taken the Queen's shilling, I'd suggest that life isn't too bad.


Mind you, as Will Rogers said, "we can't all be heroes; someone has to sit on the curb and clap as the parade goes by."
Personally, I can sit in the bleachers, [size=10pt]drinking a cold beer ,listening to a military band and watch slow marching all day.  ;D[/size]

Fixed that for you.

 

[Kirkhill]

Ah, Scipio....