What happened to it?

In the late 1700s, a few years after the birth of our nation, Baron von Steuben, a former Prussian officer who fought was personally selected by George Washington to help instill organization, control, discipline, or teamwork. In response, he prepared the “Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States.” Commonly referred to as the “Blue Book”, it because the basis of virtually all military drill and ceremony, including the Army’s manual FM 22-5, now FM 3-21.5.

The purpose of drill is to enable a commander or noncommissioned officer to move his unit from one place to another in an orderly manner; to aid in disciplinary training by instilling habits of precision and response to the leader’s orders; and to provide for the development of all soldiers in the practice of commanding troops.

I’m going to make a lot of Army guys pissed off with this post and they should be. I am pissed off a bout it too.

Each day on the way to work I see Army and Marine Corps troops marching to and from class. They march in elements as small as teams and as large as platoons. And it’s the ugliest thing I’ve seen in my entire military life! Von Steuben would be turning in his grave.

Upon his arrival at Valley Forge on 23 February 1778, von Steuben, a former staff officer with Frederick the Great, met an army of several thousand half-starved, wretched men in rags. He commented that a European army could not be kept together in such a state. To correct the conditions that prevailed, he set to work immediately and wrote drill movements and regulations at night and taught them the following day to a model company of 120 men selected from the line.

Discipline became a part of military life for these selected individuals as they learned to respond to command without hesitation. This new discipline instilled in the individual a sense of alertness, urgency, and attention to detail. Confidence in himself and his weapon grew as each man perfected the fifteen 1-second movements required to load and fire his musket. As the Americans mastered the art of drill, they began to work as a team and to develop a sense of pride in themselves and in their unit.

Where did that sense of pride go? Here’s the part that will piss off my Army brethren. I have NEVER seen the Marines even once marching out of step or lacking in discipline. Sure, there are the one or two boneheads that couldn’t march their way out of a paper sack, but overall the Marines I see marching here on post are the embodiment of what Von Steuben started over 220 years ago.

When the Soldiers here march, not only are they out of step, but they aren’t dress right, dress nor are they holding their heads high. Almost all of them look down while marching, sloppy and undisciplined. They are looking around around and holding conversations at the back of the formation. The Soldier responsible for marching them (also a student) is silent and just as uncaring about the disgusting public gaggle galloping down the street.

When the Marines here march, they are the epitome of discipline and pride. They are in line and in step. Their heads are held high and no one is talking. They reflect the continuity and uniformity Von Steuben envisioned when he created the “Blue Book.” The Marine marching them (also a student) is calling out cadence and keeping them orderly.

I’ve stopped on many occasions to attempt to fix this injustice in Soldier disorder. However, the Soldiers come and go and I can’t help but feel like I’m spinning my wheels as the ones I’ve corrected move on and new ones come in with the same lack of discipline and pride in their service.

It’s a very lonely existence feeling like the only one that seems to care about the uniform, or drill, or respect, or discipline in our troops today. Perhaps it comes from no longer having those things to instill discipline we used to have. We no longer need to shine boots. We no longer need to iron uniforms. We rarely, if ever, wear or inspect our dress uniforms anymore. Those were all areas that instilled the sense of pride and discipline in our troops.

I blame the NCOs! This is their area of responsibility. It is an extremely rare day that I ever see an NCO, any NCO, marching with these troops or even just watching them from afar to observe their piss-poor public display of sloppiness. On the contrary, I’ve seen some Marine Corps NCOs marching with or behind their troops on occasion. Drill and Ceremony is NCO business. Discipline is NCO business. I know the economy is bad, but this is one job that must NOT go out of business!

“Troops who march in an irregular and disorderly manner are always in great danger of being defeated.”

Vegetius: De Re Militari: A.D. 378

The Marines can stop grinning now and get back to work!