United States military bands
United States military bands include musical ensembles maintained by the
During the colonial period, most British army units posted in the area that would become the United States had bands attached. The first recorded instance of a local American
Bands provide martial music during official events including state arrivals, military funerals, ship commissioning, and change of command and promotion ceremonies; they conduct public performances in support of military public relations and recruitment activities such as street parades and concerts; and they provide popular music groups to entertain deployed military personnel. Most bands of the U.S. armed forces reconfigure into combat units during wartime during which they have non-musical responsibilities, including guarding prisoners of war and defending command centers.
Unlike
History
Before independence
For hundreds of years, military forces have used music to signal their troops.[1]
Evidence of the attachment of musicians to military units operating in what would become the United States dates to 1633, when colonial Virginia militia employed drummers to beat marching cadences during drills and maneuvers.[2] According to research by the U.S. Armed Forces School of Music, the first complete military band in the American colonies was organized in New Hampshire in 1653 with an instrumentation of 15 oboes and two drums.[2] The exposure of Americans to martial music increased with the growth of the number of British Army units being rotated through the colonies; most British infantry regiments had military musicians attached, consisting of both field music units that sounded signals during combat, as well as "Bands of Musick" that performed for special and ceremonial occasions.[2]
War for independence
At the outset of the
The end of the revolution came "the end of everything military" in the United States and it was not until 1798, with the establishment of the
The establishment of regular U.S. armed forces brought with it a standardization of uniforms. Federal soldiers and Marines wore a variety of uniforms based around the basic color blue with the exception of bandsmen whose uniforms were patterned in red to allow them to be more easily identifiable to field commanders who would need them to signal his orders to troops. The use of red in musician's uniforms is maintained to varying degrees by U.S. military bands today, as seen in the uniforms of the U.S. Marine Corps Band, the
The modern bugle was first introduced to American military units around the time of the War of 1812.[5] During that conflict, only the Rifle Regiment was authorized to use the bugle. All other American forces were required to continue using the traditional American fife. Gradually, however, bugles became more widely adopted by the United States military.[6]
In 1855 United States Marine Band director Francesco Scala adopted the bearskin helmet for that band's drum-major in emulation of European trends. This transition occurred as the band was reorganizing itself from a traditional American fife and drum corps into its modern incarnation and the style later became popular headgear used by many military band drum-majors in the United States.
Civil War
At the time of the American Civil War, U.S. Army bands had a normal strength of 24 musicians for infantry units, and 16 for cavalry.[8] With the mobilization of the Union Army, transition to total war, and decreasing importance of bands in signaling troops, the United States Department of War in 1861 considered cutting military bands entirely, estimated a potential cost savings of $5 million. The proposal was shelved in the face of opposition from officers and soldiers, however, a trimming of bandsmen occurred by eliminating some regimental ensembles in favor of brigade-level bands.[8] Nonetheless, a survey in October 1861 found that 75-percent of Union regiments had a band and, by December of that year, the Union Army had 28,000 musicians in 618 bands.[9] Bandsmen were also, for the first time, tasked with performing combat duties in addition to musical performance, frequently as stretcher-bearers and field hospital orderlies.[8]
Musicians were often given special privileges. Union general
I don't know what we should have done without our band ... every night about sundown Gilmore gives us a splendid concert, playing selections from operas and some very pretty marches, quick steps, waltzes and the like ... thus you can see we get a good deal of new music, notwithstanding we are off here in the woods. Gilmore used to give some of the most fashionable concerts we had at home and we lack nothing but strings now.[10]
March music era (1870 to 1900)
In the post-war era, aided by the large body of work being created by prolific American composers such as
Beginning in the 1880s, the
20th century to present
By the early 1900s military bands were being established in the far-flung reaches of the American colonial empire. Most notable among them was the Philippine Constabulary Band under the direction of Walter Loving. The group, described by Army and Navy Life as "one of the finest of all military bands in the world," and credited with John Philip Sousa as being equal in quality to the U.S. Marine Band, led the 1909 U.S. presidential inauguration parade, the first time a band other than "The President's Own" had done so.
During World War I, the U.S. armed forces experienced a great influx of professional civilian musicians resulting, in part, from the mobilization of 27 African-American regiments to augment the U.S. Army's existing four Black regiments.[13] The regimental bands of these newly formed units were frequently led by Black blues and jazz musicians experienced performing in the clubs of New York and Chicago.[13] Among them was James Reese Europe, whose 369th Regiment band (the "Harlem Hellfighters Band") is credited with introducing jazz to Europe.[13] Regimental bands during this time varied greatly in size and quality and "intensive recruiting by an ambitious colonel with a band fund and an able conductor might coax a significant number of voluntary enlistments and result in a flexible, professional-quality ensemble."[13]
During World War II, the Women's Army Corps (WAC) formed female military bands to perform for departing and arriving troops, on training bases in the U.S., and as part of war bond drives, including the 404th Armed Service Forces Band, the only all-Black all-female band in U.S. military history.[14]
During World War II, the US Army Air Forces recruited Glenn Miller to lead its band. This resulted in a tradition of USAF bands often using contemporary music to entertain and inspire airmen. This history was reflected in the motion picture “The Glenn Miller Story”
In 1949 the U.S. Air Force established the USAF Drum and Bugle Corps and a USAF Pipe Band. The former group continued until it was eliminated in 1961 as a cost-cutting measure. The USAF Pipe Band was deactivated nine years later, in 1970.
By the 20th century, military music had effectively ceased to be an integral part of combat operations with the existence of military bands becoming a function of public duties and troop morale and welfare. Occasional exceptions existed, however. One later example of the use of a band in combat occurred during the
In 1992 Senator
In 2011 Rep.
In 2016, U.S. Representative Martha McSally, a Republican from Arizona, introduced an amendment to the defense spending bill to remove $430 million in funding for military bands to eliminate their performance at concerts, parades, dinners, and other public events. The amendment passed the House of Representatives on a voice vote and now goes to the Senate. McSally said military bands would still be allowed to play at military funerals and certain ceremonies.[21]
Customs and traditions
Eagle drums
During the American Revolution, some military units, lacking heraldic insignia, painted eagles on the facing of their drums (in the British custom a regiment's
Regalia
Most U.S. military bands are issued a set of regalia, which typically include a baldric worn by the Drum-Major charged with the distinctive unit insignia of the unit to which the band is assigned and, frequently, other symbols as well such as miniature campaign streamers; a chrome mace carried by the Drum-Major and engraved with the unit's name; and a special mural unique to the unit used to wrap the band's drums.
In most bands, the drum majors often augment their uniforms with bearskin helmets and white leather gauntlets. Others wear the peaked cap instead.
Unit marches
Some U.S. Army units have officially recognized unit marches. Army units with attached bands can adopt a unit march or song at the request of the commanding officer and approval of the United States Army Center of Military History. Units with official marches and songs include the 1st Infantry Division ("Big Red One Song"), the 3rd Armored Division ("Spearhead Song"), the 7th Infantry Division ("New Arirang March"), and the 3rd Infantry Division ("Dogface Soldier") among others.
Ensembles
Premier ensembles
A U.S. military premier ensemble is a military band given special status within the U.S. armed forces. Such groups are configured and commanded in a way intended to attract the highest-quality musicians available and competition for enlistment is typically fierce. Unlike non-premier ensembles, which provide musical support to specific military units or commands, premier ensembles exist to promote the U.S. military to the public at-large and to preserve the heritage of American martial music. There are currently eleven such groups.
Unit bands
Army
In addition to its four premier ensembles, the U.S. Army fields 25 active-duty bands assigned as unit ensembles to support divisions, corps, and armies.
During combat operations, Army bands reconfigure as light infantry units responsible for reinforcing
Marine Corps
In addition to its two premier ensembles, the U.S. Marine Corps also maintains ten, 50-person field bands: the Quantico Marine Band (Quantico, VA), the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing Band (Cherry Point, NC), the 2d Marine Division Band (Camp Lejeune, NC), the Parris Island Marine Band (Parris Island, SC), the Marine Forces Reserve Band (New Orleans, LA), the 1st Marine Division Band (Camp Pendleton, CA), the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band (Miramar, CA), Marine Band San Diego (San Diego, CA), the Marine Forces Pacific Band (Kaneohe Bay, HI), and the III Marine Expeditionary Force Band (Okinawa, Japan).[29][30] Marine Corps field bands, unlike the United States Marine Band "The President's Own" and the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps "The Commandant's Own", are not mission-exclusive to music. During combat operations, bands are responsible for rear-area defense, reorganizing as the security platoon for the divisional or wing command center.[31]
The 10 USMC field bands and "The Commandant's Own" are options for the Marine Corps Musician Enlistment Option Program (MEOP).
The Navy has nine "fleet bands" in addition to its two premier ensembles, six of which are located in the
Air Force
In addition to its
- The Air Force Band of the West (at Lackland Air Force Base)
- The Air Force Heritage of America Band (at Joint Base Langley-Eustis)
- The Air Force Heartland of America Band (at Offutt Air Force Base)
- The Air Force Band of Mid-America (at Scott Air Force Base)
- The Air Force Band of the Golden West (at Travis Air Force Base)
- The Air Force Band of Flight (at Wright Patterson Air Force Base)
- The Air Force in Europe Band (at Ramstein Air Base)
- The Air Force Band of the Pacific – Asia
- The Air Force Band of the Pacific – Hawaii (at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam)
There are also five Air National Guard bands.[33][27]
Coast Guard
Though the Coast Guard does not have additional ensembles other than the U.S. Coast Guard Band, the United States Coast Guard Pipe Band is composed of both military and civilian volunteer members providing national, regional, and local musical support to Coast Guard entities and other U.S. military services. The 100 plus member pipe and drum band provides bagpipers and drummers for Coast Guard ship commissioning, change-of-command ceremonies, funerals, and for other public safety related events. Though a privately maintained and funded organization, it operates with special permission from the U.S. Coast Guard that allows it to use the name "Coast Guard." All of its members are either active duty Coast Guard, Coast Guard Reserve, Coast Guard combat veterans, retired from the Coast Guard or members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. The band kit consists of a kilt in the Coast Guard tartan, military sporran, and either the Tropical Blue Long dress uniform or the blue uniform shirt with appropriate ribbons and devices. The Arizona Band Flotilla[34] of USCG Auxiliary and Coast Guard Academy "Windjammers" Drum and Bugle Corps are also maintained through private funds.
Cadet bands
Each of the six senior military colleges, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, maintain cadet-staffed bands for ceremonial support and performance at athletic events. The band of Norwich University, founded in 1819, is the oldest such group. The Texas A&M University Fightin' Texas Aggie Band is the largest military band in the United States with more than 400 members. The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy is the only federal service academy not to have a co-located full-time ensemble. The student band, known as "George M. Cohan's Own," is the successor to a full-time band that was established at the school during World War II, but later deactivated.
Several academies maintain pipe bands. The West Point Pipes and Drums, the pipe band of the U.S. Military Academy's Corps of Cadets, was established in 1973, while the U.S. Naval Academy Pipes and Drums was established in 1996 with an endowment from the academy's class of 1961. Both ensembles wear highland dress patterned in their respective service tartans.
The VMI Pipe Band, established in 1997 at the Virginia Military Institute, wears modified highland dress consisting of standard VMI cadet uniforms with kilts patterned in the VMI tartan in lieu of trousers. The Citadels Regimental Pipe Band is composed of between 35 and 40 pipers and drummers. In 1991 it, along with the Citadel's Regimental Band, became the first university military band from the United States to participate in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
This is also the case in only three out of the currently four US Military Junior Colleges, all of them sporting military band traditions of their own.
Of the currently active state defense forces in the country, several bands stand out in active service to serve the ceremonial needs of their states, their governments, and legislatures. Among them are the Maryland Defense Force Band, the Georgia State Defense Force Band,[35] 2nd Company Governor's Horse Guards, a mounted band of the New Hampshire Defense Force, and the Bands of the Connecticut State Militia. These bands among others maintain the long tradition of military bands within these services, which they share with the wider Armed Forces and the National Guard.
Field music formations (corps of drums and drum and bugle corps)
Only the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps of the United States Army and the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps of the United States Marine Corps maintain the long-standing traditions of field music formations within the United States Armed Forces, a tradition currently absent in the SDFs and the National Guard. These formations can be traced back to the long years of British rule, due to the corps of drums made up of fifers and drummers that arrived in what is now the eastern United States together with the infantry regiments of the British Army that arrived in the colonies, together with locally raised militias and local defense regiments later on in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Performance gallery
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The Coast Guard Band leads the Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard as it passes the presidential reviewing stand during the 2009 inaugural parade
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The Navy Band Great Lakes plays "The Flag Officers March" to signal the arrival of a Rear Admiral in 2015
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The Army Band of the Wild West (191st Army Band) plays "The Generals March" to signal the arrival of Gen. Robert Cone at Fort Hood, Texas in 2009
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"Hail to the Chief" preceded by four ruffles and flourishes performed for the entrance of Barack Obama in 2015
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The West Point Band performs "Army Strong" during a concert for the U.S. Military Academy Corps of Cadets in 2012
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The U.S. Navy Band performs selections from The Four Seasons for military personnel and their families in 2014
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The West Point Band performs "On, Brave Old Army Team" following an Army touchdown at the 2014 Army–Navy Game
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"Anchors Aweigh" performed by the U.S. Navy Band at the Virginia International Military Tattoo of 2012
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The drums of the West Point Band lead the Corps of Cadets during the 2011 New York Veterans Day Parade
See also
- Military band
- U.S. Army All-American Marching Band
- U.S. Army Herald Trumpets
- Political debates about United States military bands
- Canadian military bands
- Music of the NOAA Corps
External links
References
- ^ Elleman, Maeson (14 August 2012). "Kadena Protocol, first sergeant explain music customs, courtesies". af.mil. U.S. Air Force. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ Armed Forces School of Music. 2005. pp. 13–15.
- ^ Raoul Camus (1976). Military Music of the American Revolution. University of North Carolina Press.
- ^ a b United States Marine Corps Band. U.S. Marine Corps. 1937. p. 7.
- ^ Dobney, Jason. "Military Music in American and European Traditions". metmuseum.org. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ Army Regulation 22-5. U.S. Army. December 1986.
- ^ a b Kopstein, Jack (18 June 2013). "Drum Major's Headwear in the U.S. Military Bands". militarymusic.com. Military Music. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85109-682-4.
- ^ a b Lanning pp. 243–244
- ISBN 0-8386-3519-9.
- ^ Herbert, Trevor (2013). Music & the British Military in the Long Nineteenth Century. Oxford University Press.
- ^ "Julius Kamper and the U.S. Engineer Band".
- ^ a b c d Lefferts, Peter (2012). Black US Army Bands and their Bandmasters in World War I. University of Nebraska at Lincoln. pp. 4–8. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ISBN 978-0810881624.
- ^ "History". army.mil. U.S. Army. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
- ^ Hermann, Peter (14 August 1992). "Senate panel weighs eliminating funds for military bands But trumpeters and other brass oppose disbanding". Baltimore Sun.
- ^ Pinkus, Walter (7 July 2011). "House votes to cut spending for military bands". Washington Post.
- ^ Alaimo, Carol Ann (22 August 2011). "At Ft. Huachuca and elsewhere, military bands play the blues". Arizona Daily Star.
- ^ Davis, Mark (20 October 2013). "Budget cuts cue 'Silent Night' for Air Force band's holiday tradition". Omaha World. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014.
- ^ Miller, Sarah (2 July 2012). "Closing down of Air National Guard band ends a tradition". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ^ House takes aim at military band spending, Associated Press (June 17, 2016).
- ^ ISBN 978-1-317-74768-0.
- ^ a b Swanson, James (July 1983). "Eagle drums in the Civil War". Antiques Magazine.
- ^ "Military Music in American and European Traditions | Essay | the Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History".
- ^ "The U.S. Army Herald Trumpets". usarmyband.com. United States Army. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ "Active Army Bands". music.army.mil. U.S. Army Bands. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Military Bands and Color/Honor Guards - Community Relations - Public Affairs - Personal Staff - Joint Staff - The National Guard". www.nationalguard.mil. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
- ^ "Army Band SRC 12113L000". fas.org. Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "1st Marine Corps District Eastern Recruiting Region". mcrc.marines.mil. U.S. Marine Corps. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "Musician Enlistment Option Program (MEOP)". marines.com. U.S. Marine Corps. Archived from the original on 6 December 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ISBN 1-59975-887-3.
- ^ "Fleet Band Activities". navyband.navy.mil. U.S. Navy. Archived from the original on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "Air Force Band Locations & Contact Information". bands.af.mil. U.S. Air Force. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ^ "U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Band Concert". 8 August 2013.
- ^ "Georgia State Defense Force Band". 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2013.