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.

The eyes have it!

Dr. Drill

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

Dear Dr. Drill,

My question is....at the command of dress right dress...how many degrees to the right are you suppose to look?

Thank you for your time,

Cadet Lieutenant Rivera

Dr. Drill Responds


Dear Cadet Rivera,

First, the Doctor would like to know why you didn't crack open AFMan 36-2203 and have a look before you emailed. But, no matter, now that you've asked, let's all take a look:

4.4.1.1. At the same time as the left arm is raised, each individual (except the guide and second, third, and fourth element leaders) turns head and eyes 45 degrees to the right with snap.

So you turn your eyes 45 degrees to the right and head 45 degrees to the right at the same time. So if you move your eyes 45 degrees to the right at the same time as you're moving your head, you'll end up with your head at 45 degrees and your eyes looking further over in the same direction as your head is turned. Think of your vision as the hour hand of a clock. At attention your vision points to 12 o'clock. After Dress Right Dress your vision points to 1:30, and so will your head.

Speaking of 1:30, it's past my lunchtime...

Oh right, so you use your peripheral vision to check your alignment. And don't forget to make it snappy!

Good luck!

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.