One dream, one team–– moving as a unit. Two companies of second regiment basic camp competed by platoon in a Drill and Ceremony Competition.
Drill and Ceremony is where Cadets are commanded by their platoon sergeant to step and perform in sync with precision. The drill sergeants judged based on how many of the 41 commands were performed correctly and together.
Cadet Angel Teagle’s, a student at Elizabeth City State University, role in the competition was the platoon sergeant for Delta company super platoon. The team was made up of the most proficient Cadets at drill sequences from each platoon to represent the entire company.
“Nervous, not at all,” said Teagle. “Being nervous doesn’t exist so we can be solid and make sure we are precise at everything.”
Teagle continued to say how being in the platoon sergeant position felt natural to him.
“I think it is really important for each Cadet to know their roles,” said Teagle. “If you don’t know your role, then you can mess up the person beside you or in front of you. If everybody knows their role it will be easier once we fall in.”
Cadets competed in an individual round of knockout—where one misstep equals elimination— like played in basketball, but in the terms of Drill and Ceremony. This means in order to stay in the competition each Cadet had to execute every salute, turn and step to exactness without misstep.
Like Teagle, Cadet Steffon Savage, a student at Alcorn State University, wasn’t nervous, “it’s just about following the commands and breathing.”
Savage was the winner of the individual knockout round and Teagle was the platoon sergeant who led the Delta Company platoon to a victory in the platoon competition.
The different commands in the routine will be used by Cadets for the rest of their military career. Though this event is seen as one of the more enjoyable experiences of basic camp, it is still teaching them valuable skills.
“When you are doing it in a setting like this, it is to show we are disciplined,” said Savage.
The Cadets march towards graduation with more knowledge than they came.
