CadetStuff.org:

the independent cadet program resource


Copyright © 2001-2008 CadetStuff.org.
May be copied as-is for Cadet training purposes with specific prior permission and appropriate citation. All other rights reserved.

Dressed to kill...

Dr. Drill

You can submit your questions to Dr. Drill via e-mail to: DrDrill@CadetStuff.org.

Hello Dr. Drill,

Couple Quick questions about aligning the flight: When exactly can dress right dress be called? Can it be called in column formation? If not how do you get to double arm interval in column formation. I looked in several D&C manuals, none of which give a clear cut answer which is what I need.

Thank You
Joseph Wright

Dr. Drill Responds

Yo Joe! Waddaya know?

Not how to align your flight in all situations, huh? Well, Dr. Drill's got a prescription for that little illness: more cowbell! And, if you can't get more cowbell, a little mainline of the AFMAN 36-2203 ought to do it.

First, Dr. Drill sees that you know the difference between column and line formation. But let me remind those playing at home that in a line formation all the element leaders will be at the extreme right of the formation, and that in a column formation all the element leaders will be at the head (or front) of their elements. Those at home can look at figures 4-1 and 4-3 of their drill manuals.

So, let's answer your first question: can 'dress right' be given when in column formation. The answer is: no. Allow me to refer you to the drill manual:

4-4. Aligning the Flight:
     a. Dress Right (Left) Dress (Line/Inverted Line Formation):
          (1) Normal Interval. The commands are Dress Right, DRESS and Ready, FRONT.

and:
     b. Cover:
          (1) Colum Formation. To align the flight in column, the command is COVER.

Easy enough, eh Joey? In line formation, it's Dress Right, DRESS and in column formation it's COVER. Can't get much clearer than that! On to the second question, and here Dr. Drill suspects you have a serious gap in understanding...

You asked how, if you can't give 'dress right' in column, you would get your people to double arms interval. Dr. Drill has some bad news for you Young Kangaroo: 'dress right' is never a correct way to get your people to double arms interval! And the simple reason is that there is no such thing as 'double arms interval'!

No, really! Dr. Drill wouldn't lie to you! Well, he might fib if it meant he'd win the lottery, but he'd feel Real Bad about it (all the way to the bank in his new Ferrarri!). But, a thorough investigation of the Drill Manual reveals no mention of the phenomenon known in the vernacular as 'double arms interval'. Go ahead, look for yourself. You folks playing at home can look too. I'll wait.

Hmm hmm hmm, da-de-da-da...

Okay, back? Didn't find it, did you? If you did, drop me a line because I'm drawing a blank here!

That leaves us with 'close interval' and 'normal interval'. Just so we're all clear, you can't go from normal to close or vice-reversa in the same line formation. The only way to get to close interval in line formation is to fall in that way, and the only way to get back to normal interval is to fall out and fall in again.

Pretty weird, huh?

The Marines actually have a command to move a unit into close interval or back to normal interval while in line formation. It's 'Close, MARCH' and 'Extend, MARCH'. However, it's a complicated movement involving a step as in marching and then taking as many steps in or out as the square root of the age of the guy in front of you divided by your shoe size times pi r squared and finishing with a halt and a pivot. Yowee! I've seen Soviet pairs skating routines that were easier!

So, now that we've determined that there is no such thing as 'double arms interval' and that even if there was you couldn't get there using a 'dress right' command, is there any hope for you?

Yes, junior marsupial, there is hope and Dr. Drill is here to deliver it to you!

Interestingly, you can adjust interval while in column formation, using 'Close, MARCH' and 'Extend, MARCH'. These are used to narrow the Front of the unit, allowing you - for instance - to fit four elements in a single lane of a road. These can be executed at the halt or on the march and look pretty darn slick when executed correctly!

And that covers normal interval to close interval and back. But what about going to some sort of wide interval - say for PT?

Hmm... Is there a command in your drill Tool Box (and in the Drill Manual!) that will increase the gap between elements. Hmm...

Anybody? Anybody? You in the back? No?

How about Open Ranks, MARCH and Close Ranks, MARCH?

Yes, I know, I know: they're only valid when in line formation, not in column. However, Dr. Drill doesn't know of any rule that says you can't simply give your people a snappy Right, FACE immediately following the command to open ranks! And then, Skippy, you'd have something that should approximate this mythical 'double arms interval' you keep bringing up.

And, of course, to return them to normal you'd sing out Left, FACE and Close Ranks, MARCH and they'd be back to normal and Good to Go!

Wow! Sometimes I even amaze myself!

So, to recap: to align the flight in column formation, the command is Cover and there is no such thing as 'double arms interval'. However, if you want a wide interval when in column formation, judicious use of Open Ranks, MARCH should serve nicely and has the added benefit of being something you can actually find in the Drill Manual.

And, with that, Master J, Dr. Drill bids you adieu and hopes that the next time you have a drill question, you'll drop me a line.

Dr. Drill

Caution: Dr. Drill isn't always one hundred percent serious. Please activate your Joke Detectors. And don't call us when you find yourself explaining to a membership termination board why you used a staple gun to keep a cadet's hands at his sides during "To The Rear, March". All we're going to say on your behalf is "Duh!"

And if you find yourself on the bad end of a serious counseling because you decided to go toe-to-toe with your squadron commander over the position of the guide during a squadron-in-mass formation or something similarly trivial, well, we're just going to point, laugh and call you names!

Dr. Drill welcomes comments and corrections. Nothing herein is to be construed as official policy unless quoted from an up-to-date regulation or manual and Dr. Drill is not to be used as a blunt instrument to reshape the pointy heads of your superiors. Dr. Drill has made an extensive study of the drill and knows some people who know some things, but he's not the Final Authority on what happens at your unit. That Final Authority is? That's right, kids! Your UNIT COMMANDER.

Readers who choose to hardcopy this document are entitled to specific rights, namely: you may print this off and read it repeatedly until you have memorized it and then rattle it off as if you had thought it up yourself; but if anyone asks you - or if you have to actually pull this printed copy out of your pocket to read from - then you are required under Law (Jude Law, that is. Y'know, the English guy in "Gattica"?) to say, "This was on CadetStuff.org and I stole it like it ain't no thang!" and then do the River Dance.