Posted on Jan 19, 2016
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While Drill itself doesn't provide any visible useful function on the battlefield, it is thought to instill public confidence in a nation's military forces as well instill discipline in the troops. So does it hold true that drill and ceremony still has a a purpose and place within the military or is this all a waste of time and money. - Column from the left on the left...
Drill and Ceremony
Discipline
Readiness
Budget
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 48
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From the Marine Drill & Ceremonies Manual: MARINE CORPS ORDER P5060.20
"The object of close order drill is to teach Marines by exercise to obey orders and to do so immediately in the correct way. Close order drill is one foundation of discipline and esprit de corps. Additionally, it is still one of the finest methods for developing confidence and troop leading abilities in our subordinate leaders. "
Additionally, drill teaches A LOT of fundamentals which are "scalable" with and without weapons. It's the basics of ground based maneuver combat.
"The object of close order drill is to teach Marines by exercise to obey orders and to do so immediately in the correct way. Close order drill is one foundation of discipline and esprit de corps. Additionally, it is still one of the finest methods for developing confidence and troop leading abilities in our subordinate leaders. "
Additionally, drill teaches A LOT of fundamentals which are "scalable" with and without weapons. It's the basics of ground based maneuver combat.
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SSG Will Phillips
Sgt Kennedy is exactly correct. Drill is a conditioning tool so troops will act (in most cases) on command without questioning orders. Some but not all soldiers I have lead that had degrees (but for some reason did not qualify to be an officer), had a tendency to question common orders. I had no problems if they might have thought an order was illegal. But asking "why are we doing this?" every time got annoying.
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Cpl Howard Dingman
obviously the questioner does not understand that when a squad leader yells "Take Cover", it would not be the time for a debate. Similarly, when worrying about the "waste of time and money" he does not understand that dead soldiers cost a lot of money, including the cost of training replacements.
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CPT David Donovan
I agree with Sgt Kennedy. Individual discipline, unit discipline, unit cohesion, educated listening, educated anticipation of orders, and the bonding of individuals into a unit--something greater than themselves--is the product of properly taught D & C. It can also be instructive about the history of battle and battle formations.
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Drill and ceremony is the bedrock or discipline, order, attention to detail, espree de corps, etc. The more it gets pushed aside today the worse all those others fair and are practiced and respected by soldiers. Just look around these days and try and refute the correlation.
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SGM Mikel Dawson
CSM (Join to see) Great post and to the point. Being able to function as a team is the bed rock of the military and the reason for our success. D&C keeps us in step with the basics and every once in a while everyone needs to get back to the basics.
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1LT Tom Wilson
Drill and Ceremony is a cheap and time proven method for advancing a recruit from the counter-dependent attitudes his immaturity brings to the service to the mature interdependence of the military team.
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If nothing else it connects us to our heritage. And that is reason enough to learn it, and look good doing it.
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SSgt (Join to see)
Rifle range, but as in almost all cases, it doesn't have to be a "this or that." Our flag detail rehearses every drill. Takes a few minutes of white space to do a little practice here and there.
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