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You're not breaking ranks, you're breaking my shoes!

Shawn Stanford

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

I was going through the old Doctor Drill columns looking for pearls of wisdom when I came across this from January 2004:

"Yeah, the whole 'breaking ranks' thing. When Dr. Drill was a Cadet there was nothing more fun than when some unsuspecting rube tried to cut between ranks! The shriek of agony as you elbowed his spleen up into his throat was a Thing of Beauty...

...You also mention the commands "FALL OUT" and "DISMISSED". The simple answer is: it is impossible to 'break ranks' after these commands are given for the simple fact that the formation has ended and there are no more 'ranks' to break. Just as there is no formation before the command 'FALL IN', there is no longer a formation after 'FALL OUT' or 'DISMISSED'."

This one kind of concerned me since you normally get everything just right, and you seem to have gotten this one almost completely wrong.

Breaking ranks is allowed for "FALL OUT" (AFMAN 36-2203 para 3.3.1.4) and required for "DISMISSED" (para 5.11). In both cases, the manual specifically mentions breaking ranks, which actually means to walk away and no longer stand in your assigned position in the rank. It has nothing to do with walking between two members of the same rank. When a congressman votes against his party line he is said to be "breaking ranks" because he is doing the equivalent of leaving his squad mates as they march against the enemy.

Moreover, unlike dismissed, "FALL OUT" is a rest position. That means there still is a formation. It is just one with no designated posts for the individuals. While they are allowed to break ranks (but not required to), they are not allowed to leave the area because they will be called to reform the ranks in the near future. A good use of this would be for a unit on a long road march that has stopped for a short break. The troops are allowed to go take a leak or lean against a tree, but they need to be ready to quickly get back into position when the flight sergeant stands at the left side of the column and orders "FALL IN".

I think you should pull this one out of the archives...or do I owe you an apology?

Major Robert Haase
Michigan Wing

Dr. Drill Responds:


Yo Bob!

Thanks for pulling the Doctor's pants down in front of the whole world! By the way, how did you like the tattoo?

Moving right along: reading that article again, it's clear that TFO Claypool was asking if there was a specific method of dispersal required when the commands 'Fall Out' or 'Dismissed' were given. And, as you pointed out, there isn't for 'Fall Out' and we can reasonably assume that there isn't for dismissed.

Obviously, when I answered the question I hooked on the phrase 'breaking ranks' and, rather than keying on the definition of the phrase in my beloved Drill Manual, I immediately related it to the wonderful fallacy I mentioned: namely the myth that you should prevent someone from 'breaking ranks' - i.e.: cutting a formation - by the expedient of an elbow to the guts.

This one went live in January of last year and the only reasonable explanation is that the Doctor penned it very early on the morning of January 1.

I think we'll leave the old column up as a demonstration that everyone has an off day. Meanwhile, I'm going to up the value of my malpractice insurance!

And as to the apology - I accept.

Thanks for the heads-up, Bob.

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!

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