10lbs M1 Grand Rifle with a fixed Bayonet !

[Bret]

Spinning over their heads & in close quarters. Got'a have a lot of fath in that guy next to you.

But Dang this is still soooooo cool to me. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif

USMC Silent Drill Platoon

Semper Fi!

 

[Dave Richards]

What memories for me...when I was a young teenager, I was in a precision rifle drill team. It's was all boys, back then, run by a retired infantry guy. We'd travel all over the area, especially at Memorial Day and 4th of July, sometimes doing two parades a day and going to competitions with other teams. Old men would cheer and everyone would treat us with reverence. Of course we didn't have any appreciation for what they were feeling then.

The thing for me is, that was the time my family was heavily into Austin Healeys (we had 2), Volvo 1800's (we had 2)and even a GTO. Anytime I see a video like that all those pleasant memories flood back to me, thanks Bret.

 

[Basil]

Wow, very impressive! What discipline and control!

 

[aeronca65t]

OK.
*That* was impressive!

 

[tony barnhill]

I've got scars from 10 stitches where a rifle fell on my head during a drill team performance...they were flipping them over me when 2 rifles touched & one knocked me out!

 

[1965_MGB]

We used to have the Silent Drill Team come to our base in NC every year, and I made it a point to go and watch. Great stuff to watch, especially in person.

Gotta give it to the Marines, no other service has something like that. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

[Twosheds]

I've got scars from 10 stitches where a rifle fell on my head during a drill team performance...they were flipping them over me when 2 rifles touched & one knocked me out!

The Pershing Rifles, the West Virginia University ROTC crack drill team, performed at a Boy Scout Court of Honor when I was a Tenderfoot. They wore chrome helmets. It rained and they had to perform in a low-ceiling room. They were flipping rifles and someone caught one by the bayonet.

He finished the routine and someone took him to the Emergency Room. He returned for the covered dish supper with a bandaged thumb. I don't remember how many stitches. Would have been a chance for us to get real world experience with our first aid. Guess the Scoutmasters didn't trust us.

 

[AngliaGT]

Our oldest liked to do that (with bayonets),even had
some scars to prove it.He thought it was "fun" to do.

- Doug

 

[Guest]

Brought back memories for me as well. Did Rot-c in high school in Houston back in the early 60s. The drill team was my salvation, kept me out of juvenile delinquency. Great for an OCD like myself.

How many of you can remember an M1 Thumb?


A few years later my early high school drill team paid off. As a freshman at LSU in 64, ROTC was mandatory for all males. Essentially none of the whole freshman class had drill team experience, 'cept me and one or two others. At our first big drill, the big-dog colonel did the inspection. We were in formation at "inspection arms" as the big dog would work his way down the line, grabbing each cadets M1 and wrestling it from his grip. For those who have had military training, when the inspecting officer goes for your weapon, even flinches, the weapon is his. When he rotated in front of me, I was ready. He flinched, I released the rifle, the colonel lost it and let it hit the ground. It was at that point that he realized and commented that I must've been on a drill team. "Sir, yes sir!" It was great.

 

[2wrench]

I've got scars from 10 stitches where a rifle fell on my head during a drill team performance...they were flipping them over me when 2 rifles touched & one knocked me out!

The Pershing Rifles, the West Virginia University ROTC crack drill team, performed at a Boy Scout Court of Honor when I was a Tenderfoot. They wore chrome helmets. It rained and they had to perform in a low-ceiling room. They were flipping rifles and someone caught one by the bayonet.

He finished the routine and someone took him to the Emergency Room. He returned for the covered dish supper with a bandaged thumb. I don't remember how many stitches. Would have been a chance for us to get real world experience with our first aid. Guess the Scoutmasters didn't trust us.

I am proud to say I have one eldest son Eagle Scout;
my second son has an Eagle Project in progress.
A very nice organization, to say the least.
Great Troop. As well as aforementioned: Duty to God
and Country seems to run through our troop.

 

[bugimike]

I'll bet those rifle (PS, they are G<u>a</u>rands) butts left some divots in that B-ball court!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif
Bret, that is the unit stationed with my younger son!! They all tour for over 260 days/50,000 miles per year doing that all over the country. The amount of time they drill is awsome (and they HAVE had some NASTY accidents!!) and they do it all without one verbal command!!! Anyone in the Washington DC area can catch the silent drill team and the Commandant's Own USMC Drum & Bugle Corps between April and August on Fri. night Parade at the 8th & I Barracks (tickets required), or on Tue afternoons at the Sunset Parade at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington Cemetary (no tickets required)!! Either show is WELL worth the effort to get to!!! They start their West coast tour in Feb., Spending time drilling (they don't practice...they DRILL!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif )new programs in Yuma,Az. then go on to San Diego and points north!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif Our Canadian friends can catch the show at Ft. Henry in Kingston, Ontario each year!

Here's a video with some background on the unit, but nothing compares to catching them live!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6kFqpvArIo&feature=related