Drill (training)

“ The sand table group should change each drill and once during the night if practicable, that is, if there is time for one group to finish its problem and give another a chance that same evening, it should be done. Nearly all the company should fire a score at the gallery every night.
If there are a few men in the company who are poor at the manual of arms they can be put in one group and be given one of their turns in drill in the manual.
One group may have to be taught how to make the pack. Instruction in guard duty may be necessary for another. ”

“ The drill should be made as attractive as possible, and this can best be accomplished by employing the mind as well as the body. The movements should be as varied as possible, thus constantly offering the men something new to make them keep their minds on their work. A movement many times repeated presents no attraction and is executed in a purely mechanical manner, which should always be discountenanced. ”

“ The monotony, however, can be greatly reduced by repeating the drills under varying circumstances. In the manual of arms, for instance, the company may be brought to open ranks and the officers and sergeants directed to superintend the drill in the front and rear ranks. As the men make mistakes they are fallen out and drilled nearby by an officer or noncommissioned officer. Or, the company may be divided into squads, each squad leader drilling his squad, falling out the men as they make mistakes, the men thus fallen out reporting to a designated officer or noncommissioned officer for drill. ”

“ Robert Rawlinson, civil engineer, gives the following as his opinion of the advantages of school drill in connexion with manual labor:
“In my opinion, based on experience and observation, I think school drilling and training would prove of the utmost consequence to the boys in after life. I may give a few instances. In all engineering and building, tradesmen are frequently required to use their strength in concert, lifting, carrying and drawing; men, to use their joint strength not only effectively but safely, must have confidence in each other. ”

“ The purpose of extended order drill is to teach the mechanism of deployment of the firing, and, in general, of the employment of troops in combat. Such drills are in the nature of disciplinary exercises and should be frequent, thorough, and exact, in order to habituate men to the firm control of their leaders. Extended order drill is executed at ease. The company is the largest unit which executes extended order drill. ”

“ When first taught his positions, the recruit should be properly placed by the instructor; when more advanced, he should not be touched, but made to correct himself when admonished. He should not be kept too long at any one exercise. Squad drill should be intermixed with instruction in the handling of the rifle and with physical training, and close order drill with skirmishing. ”

“ They have quite as much average comprehension as whites of the need of the thing, as much courage, (I doubt not,) as much previous knowledge of the gun, and, above all, a readiness of ear and of imitation, which, for purposes of drill, counterbalances any defect of mental training. To learn the drill, one does not want a set of college professors; one wants a squad of eager, active, pliant school-boys ”

“ The drills are light enough to be easily erected and dismantled, and compact, so that they can be used in restricted and out-of-the way places, while their simplicity entails little special training on the part of the workman. With pneumatic and other power-drills the cost of piercing holes for explosive charges is reduced to less than one-quarter of that of "jumping" with a crowbar and sledgehammers. With the hand method two men are required, usually more; one man to hold, guide, and turn the drill ”

“ In this manner the training of a large number of men might be effected, and all companies so drilled should, once at least in two years, if not in each year, be exercised in battalion drill, so as to keep up their training. ”

“ Now the training of the company began in earnest. The majority of the men had had only the most hasty smattering of the elements of squad drill; many could not shoulder arms properly. Two platoons would use the drill field while two drilled on the roads outside. The training schedules called for a good nine-hour day of drill and ceremonies, varied occasionally by short practice hikes by company or battalion. ”

“ At the command rest or at ease the men, while carrying out the provisions of the drill regulations, should be cautioned to avoid assuming any position that has a tendency to nullify the object of the position of attention; standing on leg for instance; allowing the shoulders to slope forward; drooping the head; folding arms across chest, etc. The weight should always be distributed equally upon both legs; the head, trunk, and shoulders remain erect and the arms held in a position that does not restrict the chest or derange the shoulders. ”

“ Our “intensive training” was continued here. We were rejoiced that we hadn’t that awful hill to climb, and somehow we got away with using the field to drill on. The mornings were taken up with problems, and before long we were well acquainted with those woods; then there was bayonet drill, bombing, the everlasting gas mask drill, musketry, physical drill, and so on. The afternoon was devoted to special drill for Lewis gun, V. B. and hand bombers, runners, etc., while the rest of the company did problems or musketry. ”

“ The training must be continuous for an extended period. To accomplish it altogether with ball cartridges would be too costly and often impracticable. The desired results can be obtained by pointing and aiming drills and gallery practice, if these are so conducted that the men never pull the trigger without properly bringing the rifle to the shoulder and looking through the sights at some target.
A week of continuous work every six months will not accomplish the results; frequent short drill periods are necessary. ”

“ The element on which a movement is regulated. In company drill it is usually the right or left; leading, rear, or center squad.
Deploy. To extend the front. The company deploys when it executes as skirmishers.
There are really only two conditions that we must consider in this drill. The movements are very easy to
understand, but they require a lot of practice to prevent confusion. ”

“ The discipline must be strict in these exercises, the men must never be allowed to slight the work. A certain amount of latitude must be given but prompt obedience to an order must be insisted upon. Without such discipline an attack is hopeless; the drill field is the place to acquire it. ”

“ But before we proceed to their detail consideration, we must answer the question how far the drill ground only suffices for the purpose of training. Generally, one can subscribe to General von Schlichting's principle—that forms and principles must be learnt in the drill book, but their application in action only in the open country. Tactical exercises on the drill ground, which have not for sole purposes to bring to expression certain formal principles, are always an evil, and mislead the troops. ”

“ Drill means discipline, training, education. The first drill of every people is military. It has been the first education of nations. The duty of obedience is thus taught on a large scale,—submission to authority; united action under a common head. These soldiers,—who are ready to march steadily against vollied fire, against belching cannon, up fortress heights, or to beat their heads against bristling bayonets, as they did at Badajos,—were once tailors, shoemakers, mechanics, delvers, weavers, and ploughmen ”

“ You must expect that if mistakes are made at the drill they will be made in battle; to correct these mistakes you should use only those means at drill that will be practicable in battle. The captain needs much practice in thus handling a skirmish line and those under him need more practice before the company can be well handled in this manner. ”

“ As has been mentioned there are many kinds of drills in the army, but the new recruits, such as Ned, Bob, and Jerry, found, according to their squad leader, that the physical drill was the most important one for them at first. Later on would come rifle drill, drill in the trenches, bayonet practice, machine gun drill, rushes with hand grenades and so on. ”

“ Before drilling the men on horseback they had all been drilled on foot, and having gone at their work with hearty zest, they knew well the simple movements to form any kind of line or column. Wood was busy from morning till night in hurrying the final details of the equipment, and he turned the drill of the men over to me. To drill perfectly needs long practice, but to drill roughly is a thing very easy to learn indeed. ”

“ No other sort of drill equals in fascination that which the embryo M.F.B. man must go through. Unlike a soldier or sailor, he must undertake many of the actual dangers of warfare during ordinary drill on the parade-ground. The instruction, conducted by superintendents who have gone through the mill themselves and know [Pg 245] every detail of the work, is divided into two parts—theoretical and practical.
The room in which most of the theory is taught is particularly interesting. It contains a half section of every apparatus or device used by or in connection with the brigade. ”

“ Slowly but gradually, inch by inch, the improvised drill worked its way to the air and life. Just as I thought my very last energy expended, and when the handle of the drill lacked an inch of being inserted its entire length, the end broke the surface of the ground over my head, and air, blessed air, came rushing into the aperture. ”

“ A more efficient method of hand-drill work is, however, where one man holds the drill, and another swings the hammer or sledge. Another form of hand drill, called a churn drill, consists of a long, heavy bar of steel, which is alternately raised and dropped by the workman, thus cutting a hole by repeated impacts. ”

“ It is the drilling that makes the difference: "Oh, for a drill-sergeant to teach them to stand upright, and to turn out their toes, and to get rid of that slouching, hulking gait, which gives such a look of clumsiness and stupidity!" ”

“ Keep the drill firmly pressed into this center and kept wet constantly with turpentine. Do not revolve the work all one way, but give the lathe an alternating motion. At first give but a third or a half revolution each way, until the drill begins to bite into the staff, when you can then safely give it a full revolution each way. Care must be exercised, however, not to give the work too rapid a motion, for if you do the friction is apt to draw down the temper of your drill. ”

“ You may count 1, 2, 3; or slide, 2, 3; or over, over, under. Drill fourteen should be practiced a minute or more at the beginning of each practice period. Four drills have now been suggested for use at the beginning of every practice period. They should be practiced, not only in the beginning stages, but until the entire course has been mastered. These drills furnish the very best movement exercises, and at the same time give the right kind of practice in form building. Students who thoroughly master them in size, form, and speed application will find the remaining drills easy. ”

“ Let me give the old drill-sergeant his due. There is nothing in the world like smart drill under a competent instructor to make a company out of a mob. Train a man to respond instantly to a brisk command, and he will become a clean, alert, self-respecting soldier. ”

“ The fullest descriptions are given for the successful production of the drills, and to this end nearly 100 diagrams have been inserted showing the different movements. Everything is made so clear that anyone can use the drills without the slightest difficulty. Among the more popular and pleasing drills are: The Brownie, Taper, Maypole, Rainbow, Dumb-bell, Butterfly, Sword, Flower, Ring, Scarf, Flag, and Swing Song and Drill. ”

“ After the mechanism of extended order drill has been learned with precision in the company, every exercise should be, as far as practicable, in the nature of a maneuver (combat exercise) against an imaginary, outlined, or represented enemy. ”

“ Two days in the week the regiment went out on picket, and while there got but little sleep and suffered much from exposure. When they were not on picket, all the men not needed for camp guard had to drill. It was nothing but drill, drill, drill: company drill, regimental drill, brigade drill, and once even division drill. ”

“ Materially it consists in exercises frequently repeated by bodies of soldiers with a view to ensuring the harmonious action of each individual Drill. in the work to be performed by the mass—in a word, rehearsals. Physical “drill” is based on physiology and gymnastics, and aims at the development of the physique and the individual will power.16 But the psychological or moral is incomparably the most important side of drill. It is the method or art of discipline. Neither self-control nor devotion in the face of imminent danger can as a rule come from individual reasoning. ”

“ Often those who were so treated "got the chevrons" after all.
"Plebe drill," or, more familiarly, "squad drill," has always been a source of great amusement to citizens, but what a horror to plebes. Those torturous twistings and twirlings, stretching every nerve, straining every sinew, almost twisting the joints out of place and making life one long agonizing effort. Was there ever a "plebe," or recruit, who did not hate, did not shudder at the mere mention of squad drill? ”

“ When the snow had melted and the prairie became dry, we began to drill from three to four hours each day except on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. We had company, battalion, skirmish and bayonet drills, as well as target practice, and in a few months we became very expert in all of them. I was fond of the free action in skirmish drill, but did not like drilling in close formation. I also liked the bayonet exercise, and at target practice few could show a better score. ”