History of the Drill Ceremony
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Drill ceremony is a crucial aspect of the military. The primary importance of drill importance is to prepare troops for combat through rapid following of orders. Ceremonies on the other hand accompany drill hand in hand because during these ceremonies, troops are aligned and they perform these drills. The importance of drills in the United States Military today is rooted in the fact that the history of these drills is just as important as the drills themselves. To properly understand the history of drill ceremonies in the United States, it is important to think back to the struggles that the army faced during the Continental Army (Camus, 2018). During the 18thcentury, the Continental Army was faced with significant challenges such as the lack of food, limited clothing, and a shortage of supplies. Aside from the resources and discipline challenges, they also received poor and fragmented training.
Limited supplies, haphazard, and fragmented training had a significant impact on the soldiers. The first impact was poor discipline and uneven performance against enemy forces. This posed a significant threat because the soldiers would not be able to perform well against enemy forces. To resolve this problem, Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus von Steuben who was an officer in the Prussian Army and a major general in the Continental Army was enlisted to help remedy the conditions of the Army (Cader, 2018). To correct the conditions of the army his first order of business was to write drill movements and regulations, The following morning, the drill movement was taught to 120 men. The drill movements instilled a sense of discipline, alertness, attention to detail, and urgency. There was also a significant improvement in the confidence that the soldiers had in their weapons and ultimately the company drill instilled teamwork and price in the unit.
The next significant moment or the drill ceremony was the formalization and Baron von Steuben did this by writing the Army field, Manual. The Army field manual served the specific purpose of ensuring the continuity and uniformity of the drills and procedures. The manual titled Regulation for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, which is known as the Blue Book was the holy grail for drill procedures, and following the publication, these procedures were not changed from 85 years, with the only minor change being enacted during the American Civil War.
Some of the significant changes that have been seen in drill ceremonies induce the marching cadence. Initially, the troops marched at a cadence of 76 steps per minute whereas the current cadence is 120 steps per minute. Another significant factor that changed the drill movements were the changes in weaponry. With an improved pelmet in armament and weaponry, new tactical concepts emerged to suit the new and improved weaponry. However, the most significant change was the fact that these drills are no longer normally employed on the battlefield, the objectives of drill ceremony have changed and they are now used to build the Army through improving professionalism, confidence, and alertness. However, the drill ceremony is still a vital aspect of the military today as it was in the 18thcentury.
Reference
Camus, R. F. (2018). The Revolutionary War: The Continental Army. In Music and War in the United States (pp. 3-19). Routledge.