How Did I Get Here?

Quote of the Day: “It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one damn thing over and over.”

Today I took my family to see the Marine Corps Silent Drill Team who were performing at MCRD for one day only.

Now I’m torn between explaining to those who don’t know what that is and just letting it go…

OK, real quick but only because I took my cousin who knew nothing about it.

The Marine Corps has a Silent Drill Team. These are junior enlisted infantrymen who have been assigned to the ceremonial detail based in Washington DC. Their job is to perfect the ceremonial drill exhibitions and travel all over the world performing.

If the Marine Corps were the NFL, the Silent Drill Team would be the Super Bowl winners. They are the Olympic Team of the Marine Corps.

What is so special about them? Well, they perform their drill with no audible commands (hence the “Silent” Drill Team.) They have to memorize every movement and then perform it to exacting perfection in complete synchronization to the other 40 or so Marines.

Oh, and did I mention many of the movements include throwing around an 10-pound wooden and steel rifle?

And, um, yeah, it’s mounted with a razor-sharp bayonet on the top just to make it that much more fun.

Here, take a look at what they can do:

When you are done with that, take a look at the latest commercial:

We arrived a bit early so that we could get a good parking spot. My sister-in-law had to catch a plane so we thought she could see the beginning of the ceremony and then Carrie would dash her over to the airport to catch her plane. Unfortunately they delayed the start to allow all the people to get on the Depot so she missed all of it.

When we got there, I started talking to the Marines I knew and asked if they had any good seats available. They hooked me up with chairs (as opposed to the bleachers) right on the perimeter of where the Drill Team would be performing.

The day was nice…

and truth be told, I got a little pink on the forehead. Sunburn in March!!! My cousin was embarrassed that I soiled the Mexican blood by burning in the sun.

The first part of the presentation was the Drum and Bugle Corps.

These are the less-celebrated part of the team, often overshadowed by the Drill Platoon. The Drum and Bugle Corps performed some good music and marched around for about 20 minutes. To play their instruments and march with such precision is definitely a sight to behold.

When the Drill Platoon came out, I started to get nervous like I always do. Like watching ice skating and gymnastics, I get all tense, waiting for them to drop a rifle. With so many Marines throwing around rifles, I know it’s got to happen every once in awhile and it makes me nervous as a cat waiting for it.

It didn’t.

I think the family was impressed with the performance. I know I was. These kids really know what they are doing and it really makes this old Marine proud to see that fire still ignited in such young Marines. Hell, most of them were probably TEENAGERS if you can believe that!

When it was done, I got some good pictures of the platoon up close…

and even the Color Guard.

You can see all my pictures of this event at my Flickr site.

Free Advice for Today: “Order a seed catalog. Read it on the day of the first snowfall.”