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The DrillAmerica Parade Rifle is Here!

December 8, 2012 in Announcements, Drill Teams, DrillCenter News

Yes Drillers, it’s here! Glendale (www.paradestore.com) has developed a better rifle for parade and alternative arms use! Dubbed the DrillAmerica Parade Rifle, it is the newest addition to the DrillAmerica family of outstanding drill rifles.

No more flimsy, lightweight wood! The new rifle has a resin stock, just like its DrillAmerica siblings. Even better, it comes with a black, brown or white stock!

“Full 42″ size, 4.2 lbs, high impact resin, nickel-plated barrel and bolt, rubber butt plate, stacking swivel, operating bolt action and clicking trigger. Includes a black heavy web rifle sling with nickel hardware. No bayonet lug. Recommended for parade use and Alternative Arms Drillers.”

Tags: alternative drill rifle, drill team, drillamerica, DrillAmerica Parade Rifle No Comments »

by DrillMaster

The Newest Kid on the Block

July 5, 2012 in Announcements, Commentary, Drill Teams, DrillCenter News, Honor Guard

August 1st can’t get here soon enough!

For those of you not in-the-know, Glendale Industries, paradestore.com, will release it’s sister DrillAmerica Rifle to the original M1 Garand Replica. Yes, ladies and germs, the military drill world welcomes the new DrillAmerica M1903 replica! [cue applause]

It comes in two flavors: black or chrome metal.

DrillMaster will be testing it shortly to provide a review, but in the meantime, feast thine eyes:

Hold the phone- it comes with a bayonet lug! [a perfect place to have your DrillMaster Bayonet securely seated]

Image courtesy of Glendale Ind.

Tags: drill america, drill team, drillamerica, driller, glendale, m1903, parade store, paradestore 5 Comments »

by DrillMaster

Armed Driller Alternatives

March 20, 2012 in Drill Teams, DrillCenter News, Instructional, Review

‘Part One’ of this post is here: Psst, Hey Buddy.

Armed Exhibition Drill Rifles for Sale

The above blog post is great if you want to buy a demilitarized rifle or even a working 1903, M14 or M1 Garand, but what else is out there and are these alternatives right for military drill? Well, let’s look and see:

The Color Guard Rifle

Let’s start with a hot button issue for some Drillers. The (marching band) color guard rifle. Why is this such a hot issue with some? Because it is not a “real” rifle and only weighs about two pounds. The biggest problem with using this type of rifle is a Driller using it like it’s an eight-pound demil. Does this work? Not on your life. This rifle is designed to be whipped around the body at lightning speed and thrown for a 10-revolution toss. Pretending otherwise just makes that Driller look silly. How can they be used? Younger Drillers, for a start. They can be used with solo Drillers and teams as well, but need to be used according to their design.

The DrillAmerica M1 Garand

Then there is the Glendale Industries DrillAmerica Rifle. A fine and affordable M1 Replica that is actually outstanding for honor guard ceremonial use ad good for Drillers. The problem with the DA is that once it gets banged and dinged, it has to be relegated to the practice rifle group. There are some sharpish edges (like the trigger guard), but nothing too serious. What about the moving bolt? It’s a neat idea, but it sticks more than it works.

For the Glendale DrillAmerica M1903 see: The Newest Kid on the Block

The Daisy Drill Rifle 1903

The Daisy Drill Rifle. A great number of Drillers use a Daisy or a hybrid “Spraisy” (Springfield M1903A3 + Daisy Drill Rifle). Currently, this is the choice of world class Drillers for the most part, besides having a demil’d rifle.

The CTA M14

The Combat Training Aids DrillMaster M14. The best M14 replica a Driller can use! Period! Unbreakable and the Driller can repair scrapes and scratches. MCJROTC and even NJROTC units are a perfect fit for this rifle.

Keystone Arsenal: M1 Garand, M1 Garand Tanker (6 inches shorter), Krag Jorensen and several others. These are beautiful rifles, but they are only for ceremonial use and not for drill since they are breakable.

The Color Guard Saber

What about a Saber or Sword? These are great pieces of equipment that are used by a small number of drill teams and many armed team commanders. Sometimes an issue arises: the competition host does not allow the either of these pieces of equipment out of the hand of the Driller due to safety concerns. Understandable, but still a big pain; this puts severe limits on the Driller! Hello spinnable saber! It’s not exactly the same as a military saber, but is extremely close.

Now, you can make your own rifle at home! See this article.

The Color Guard Airblade

And then there is the Airblade. Who will be adventurous enough to drill with this? Click the picture to be taken to the web site where it is for sale.

Tags: color guard, color team, drill, drill rifle, drill team, drillamerica, exhibition rifle, explorer post, fake rifle, honor guard, m1 garand, m14, m1903, plastic rifle, practice rifle, resin rifle, rubber duck, scout, surplus rifle 3 Comments »

by DrillMaster

How to Become a Certified Visual Judge

March 10, 2012 in Ask DrillMaster, Drill Teams, DrillCenter News, Honor Guard, Instructional

The World Drill Association and DrillMaster now offer a training and certification program for judges for the military drill world. All aspects of military drill come under the visual category and should be judged as such. That is where the program comes in. There are four visual captions:

1. Overall Effect
2. Composition Analysis
3. Movement
4. Equipment

Also a judging position, but not a caption is:

5. Timing and Penalties

To become a certified judge, here is what you have to do (this is all at your own speed):

1. Purchase The WDA Adjudication Manual
2. Read it
3. Pick a caption on which you would like to concentrate and get certification and study it over and over
4. Study that caption, begin watching videos on the internet of teams and solos and make commentaries based on your caption on that video (use your computer to record yourself- yes everyone’s voice sounds strange to them- but you need to be able to talk about your caption during a performance!)
5. Use the WDA score sheet for your caption to score that performance
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5
7. During your study, submit your commentaries to get feedback for necessary improvements, if needed
8. When you think you are ready, you will be given a short multiple-choice test and also shown several preselected videos in which you must make a commentary and give scores
9. When you pass, you will be given a certificate that says you are a certified WDA Judge for the caption you chose, you then have the option to repeat the steps above for each caption

When you have been certified, it will be time to obtain Continuing Education for the WDA Judge. This book takes you through a more in-depth study of ranking and rating.

When do you want to be a certified judge? It’s mostly up to you. How long will it take? At least six months of study and practice. Can I do it quicker? Probably not. There is no immediate short cut: Study. Practice. Repeat.

So then what? The WDA already has some drill meets where the adjudication system is used, is always looking to add more competitions and will be sponsoring competitions in each state. As more judges are certified and word spreads of real feedback being given to performers, more competitions will want to use certified judges. It will all take time.

The plan is to have groups of the WDA Adjudication Corps in each state with judge coordinators and trainers.

Are you a veteran? The WDA and DrillMaster have developed the Veteran Adjudication Program. The only difference from then above information is that, with sponsorship, the books will be free.

Tags: color guard, color team, daisy, drill, drill judging, drill rifle, drill team, drillamerica, driller, drillmaster, exhibition drill, explorer post, fancy drill, freestyle drill, honor guard, judging, military drill judge, WDA 2 Comments »

by DrillMaster

Tulane 2012 Solo Commentaries

February 21, 2012 in Commentary, Drill Teams, Instructional

The Mardis Gras Drill Meet at Tulane University 2012 was a great success! I was there judging solos. There were 12 competitors and all did a great job. The cadets from West Point, University of South Carolina NROTC and Norwich all pulled away from the others with great routines. I forgot my digital voice recorder, but used my Android phone’s voice recorder and it worked extremely well! However, there was one issue: dead battery by the last routine. No problem, a young lady from Norwich University was able to step up with her Android phone and let me use her voice recorder for Preston Huntington’s routine. That’s why you only see 11 of the commentaries.

It was great to see not only the solos, but with the big breaks in between the performances, some platoon XD performances as well. Some of the schools displayed variations in timing and step style and showed a concerted effort in programing and orientation (nicely done USAFA!!).

The great thing about Tulane this year was the introduction of the World Drill Association Adjudication System as a parallel to the standard judging system used. Solos were given the opportunity to hear professional adjudication feedback

I also enjoyed speaking with the teams, soloists, parents and instructors as well as some of the great Marine judges from Paris Island.

The day was also a good learning experience. Right Mr. Waddington?

Below are the links to the commentaries (automatic download).

Tulane: http://www.mediafire.com/?lua9e9vf8ecq120

Citidel 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?6qa9m3vm9c72x89

USMMA: http://www.mediafire.com/?qr3bd5dcxq5cbaq

TAMU: http://www.mediafire.com/?e5eucaapndscc7k

UT Austin 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?lejm7e4kgmgede4

UT Austin 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?uy08jqjhbjqjxgc

West Point: http://www.mediafire.com/?tc4d342v922ijtf

University of Florida: http://www.mediafire.com/?dvimvvujbrj9ry3

University of South Carolina: http://www.mediafire.com/?7yt574wco0ox2zw