Dem boys are purty sharp fellows. Enjoyed! Thanks!
They are very skilled men
Those squids do a nice job of tossing and twirling those Enfields. If my memory’s correct, those were pretty heavy rifles.
Hey Old NFO;
The first one is still saved in my favorites….It is on my bucket list to go to a tattoo and watch a performance.
CP/Rick- That they are! 🙂
CM- Actually they are 03A3s… We did that at Memphis too! 🙂
Bob- Well worth it. The really special one is 8th & I, with the Marines.
Very cool!!
Thanks for sharing.
Suz
Suz- You’re welcome!
Awesome, enjoyed these immensely.
Exhibit A that the defense budget is home to all sorts of wasteful government spending and bureaucratic bloat. These guys and gals add NOTHING to national defense. If the national government think that this is something that needs your tax dollar support, it should be done by GS-5’s in the Parks Department with the other performing arts. They could hire people right out of HS drill teams. No need for basic training, military rank or VA benefits.
Sir:
You remind me of a line from Clauswitz: “They aim at fixed values… ” (Cited in Summer’s On Strategy: a Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War, discussing the failures of Robert McNamara and his Whiz Kids in their fanatical rush for efficiency at fatal cost to effectiveness…)
You can NOT underestimate the value of morale. Morale is critical – even the best equipped and trained army will dissolve into a mob without the bonds of pride in service and esprit d’corps to glue them together. Drill, ceremony, competition – all of these bind us together, and help to give us the strength to fight and win, even while civilians cower and cringe. It is most fortunate that you and your ilk have not managed to get your wish – otherwise, we members of the Armed Forces of the United States would have been reduced to underpaid mercenaries bathed in the hatred and contempt of you and your peers.
And if you think that’s somehow a good thing, remember: mercenaries have always found it easy to either rob their paymasters or turn their coats (look at the history of Italy in the time of the Medicis for an example).
It is most fortunate for the Republic that you and your ilk have not yet won the argument. For, the day you eliminate the ceremonies that remind us practitioners of the profession of arms of who we fight for, the day you succeed in eliminating the drills and exercises that teach us the uncritical willingness to follow the orders of those you appoint over us… will be the day you find yourself with an army and navy (and air force, and marine corps, and coast guard, and merchant marine) that is unfit to defend you, assuming that they can even muster up the will to try…
Bluntly, sir, your snide comment suggests that you are a REMF. I hope not, but the blatant wrongness of your statements suggests otherwise. (If you are as uneducated in service matters as your poorly-informed and ill-advised comments suggest, I will advance your knowledge by saying that REMF is an acronym from the Vietnam era, the first three letters of which stand for, “Rear,” “Echelon,” and “Mother”. )
Bottom line: if you want mercs that will sell you and the rest of this country out at the first opportunity, keep on saving money and destroying any reason for the troops to do otherwise. If you DON’T want that, then rethink your position, sir
On the original topic: when I watched the Navy team, speaking as a U. S. Marine veteran, my first thought was, “Damn, these squids are good…”
Which shouldn’t have surprised me: after all, in high school, I was in a Naval Junior ROTC det, with a CO who retired as a P-3 driver O-5 and an XO who retired as an S-3 driver O-5, and a Master Chief who retired as an MCABN E-9 (if I remember it correctly). Airdales would get aboard with Blackshoes for drill if it meant the Navy beating out Jarheads, Doggies, Zoomies, and Puddlejumpers….
They tore the floor up with that performance, totally awesome display of perfection.
I’m such a homer. I really enjoyed the first two videos, but I could barely stand to watch the Army and Air Force ones.
Dem boys are purty sharp fellows. Enjoyed! Thanks!
They are very skilled men
Those squids do a nice job of tossing and twirling those Enfields. If my memory’s correct, those were pretty heavy rifles.
Hey Old NFO;
The first one is still saved in my favorites….It is on my bucket list to go to a tattoo and watch a performance.
CP/Rick- That they are! 🙂
CM- Actually they are 03A3s… We did that at Memphis too! 🙂
Bob- Well worth it. The really special one is 8th & I, with the Marines.
Very cool!!
Thanks for sharing.
Suz
Suz- You’re welcome!
Awesome, enjoyed these immensely.
Exhibit A that the defense budget is home to all sorts of wasteful government spending and bureaucratic bloat. These guys and gals add NOTHING to national defense. If the national government think that this is something that needs your tax dollar support, it should be done by GS-5’s in the Parks Department with the other performing arts. They could hire people right out of HS drill teams. No need for basic training, military rank or VA benefits.
Sir:
You remind me of a line from Clauswitz: “They aim at fixed values… ” (Cited in Summer’s On Strategy: a Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War, discussing the failures of Robert McNamara and his Whiz Kids in their fanatical rush for efficiency at fatal cost to effectiveness…)
You can NOT underestimate the value of morale. Morale is critical – even the best equipped and trained army will dissolve into a mob without the bonds of pride in service and esprit d’corps to glue them together. Drill, ceremony, competition – all of these bind us together, and help to give us the strength to fight and win, even while civilians cower and cringe. It is most fortunate that you and your ilk have not managed to get your wish – otherwise, we members of the Armed Forces of the United States would have been reduced to underpaid mercenaries bathed in the hatred and contempt of you and your peers.
And if you think that’s somehow a good thing, remember: mercenaries have always found it easy to either rob their paymasters or turn their coats (look at the history of Italy in the time of the Medicis for an example).
It is most fortunate for the Republic that you and your ilk have not yet won the argument. For, the day you eliminate the ceremonies that remind us practitioners of the profession of arms of who we fight for, the day you succeed in eliminating the drills and exercises that teach us the uncritical willingness to follow the orders of those you appoint over us… will be the day you find yourself with an army and navy (and air force, and marine corps, and coast guard, and merchant marine) that is unfit to defend you, assuming that they can even muster up the will to try…
Bluntly, sir, your snide comment suggests that you are a REMF. I hope not, but the blatant wrongness of your statements suggests otherwise. (If you are as uneducated in service matters as your poorly-informed and ill-advised comments suggest, I will advance your knowledge by saying that REMF is an acronym from the Vietnam era, the first three letters of which stand for, “Rear,” “Echelon,” and “Mother”. )
Bottom line: if you want mercs that will sell you and the rest of this country out at the first opportunity, keep on saving money and destroying any reason for the troops to do otherwise. If you DON’T want that, then rethink your position, sir
On the original topic: when I watched the Navy team, speaking as a U. S. Marine veteran, my first thought was, “Damn, these squids are good…”
Which shouldn’t have surprised me: after all, in high school, I was in a Naval Junior ROTC det, with a CO who retired as a P-3 driver O-5 and an XO who retired as an S-3 driver O-5, and a Master Chief who retired as an MCABN E-9 (if I remember it correctly). Airdales would get aboard with Blackshoes for drill if it meant the Navy beating out Jarheads, Doggies, Zoomies, and Puddlejumpers….
They tore the floor up with that performance, totally awesome display of perfection.
I’m such a homer. I really enjoyed the first two videos, but I could barely stand to watch the Army and Air Force ones.
I’m so ashamed of myself.