Klarinet Archive - Posting 000627.txt from 1996/12

From: "ROGER W. FERRELL" <102623.2572@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Military Bands
Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 01:34:39 -0500

I'm going to throw my two cents worth into this, as I'm a member of a military
band. First off, there are MANY fine military groups in our Armed Forces. I
will narrow the focus of my opinion; all of the bands in Washington DC, the
military academy bands, and most all of the Air Force regional bands are within
my realm of being good groups, musically. Unfortunately, most of the Army, Navy
and Marine groups aren't all that great because the focus of those groups is
mainly military support (the ceremonies and such) and the musicians are required
to do double duty as "real" military weenies (security work, medical assistance,
and other such duties). These tend to distract from the purpose of making
music, and most musicians get disgusted with this situation after awhile and
leave the service when their enlistment is up. The Air Force dosen't have to do
the nasty extra duties; their purpose, primarily, is to get the "Air Force" name
out in front of the public (PR work, in other words). However, that also
doesn't mean that the job is there to satisfy the players - the nature of the
job is to entertain. Sometimes it's not much different than playing a circus
gig year-in and year-out. Most of these groups do their best to make it a
musically satisfying experience, but, as in all things, nothing is ever perfect.

If anyone would be interested in information about other military bands, browse
the Net - there are many good web pages out there on our groups. For one in
particular, check out:

http://www.afres.af.mil/~band/

for the Band of the Air Force Reserve

SMSgt Roger Ferrell