Wednesday, May 07, 2014

I Got It!

From the Usual USAF Source...
Air Frame: The US Air Force Honor Guard Drill Team performs during the Virginia International Tattoo's Virginia Art Festival on April 23, 2014, at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va. The festival is VIT's signature event in honor of Vietnam veterans and their families. (Air Force photo by A1C Devin Scott Michaels)
Drill teams tossing M1 Garands (with bayonets!) around like toothpicks always impress the Hell outta me.  I also wonder how many "training accidents" happen during the making of said drill teams.
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10 comments:

  1. (not necessarily your) Uncle Skip07 May, 2014 10:47

    The last "piece" I ever handled with any regularity was the M1.
    It was the first thing for which they gave any of us rounds.
    The everyday "piece" was a Springfield, which we got to lug just about everywhere, but was just for show because it had been rendered inoperable.
    Both were heavy iron.

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    1. Buck07 May, 2014 14:52

      I've handled Garands, but never in the course of my AF duties. I was always a carbine or a sidearm (.38 revolver, in my day) kinda guy.

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  2. HMS Defiant07 May, 2014 12:23

    The very first thing I'd do before I handed a rifle off to cadets.... was make it inoperable. Jst sayin.

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    1. Buck07 May, 2014 14:52

      Heh. Smart. Very smart.

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    2. juvat07 May, 2014 15:32

      Yes, but you can't make a bayonet inoperable, just dull. Our ROTC unit had a drill team and we drilled with sabers. Sharp edge was rounded smooth. Distinctly remember practice one late fall night with a bit of chill in the air, spinning the sabers and catching them. One kid threw his up in the air, and caught it flat bladed so the hilt and the point formed a nice bow around his chilled hand, just numb enough for the steel to flex the other way before he could issue the instruction to his hand to close. The saber wobbled into air and progressed towards another cadet standing with his back to it. FORTUNATELY, it stuck between his shoulder width spread feet and made itself known by tapping the insides of each leg with the hilt. Practice was dismissed.

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    3. Buck07 May, 2014 16:54

      @juvat: Yow!

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  3. Moogie P07 May, 2014 13:32

    I LOVE drill teams! I can't tell from the pic whether they have bayonets fixed. Bayonets can't be rendered inoperable!

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    1. Buck07 May, 2014 14:53

      I'm pretty sure they have bayonets, Moogie.

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  4. HMS Defiant07 May, 2014 20:21

    OK, then the second thing I do is put a senior NCO in charge. :)

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.

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