Drill team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A drill team is a marching unit that performs military style maneuvers in parades, at air shows, football half-time shows, and other public venues. High school and college drill teams also often compete with one another in drill meets.

All of the United States military service branches have an official drill team part of their respective service Honor Guard or Ceremonial Guard. The service academies have drill teams, as well as many ROTC colleges and universities and many high school JROTC organizations. In addition to standard drill commands, drill teams also perform exhibition drill in which they may perform intricate marching maneuvers along with spinning and throwing rifles, sometimes with fixed bayonets. Other types of drill teams include high school civilian drill teams that include dancers, flag twirlers, and non-martial performances. These teams perform routines that may be danced in unity to a variety of instrumental upbeat music.

These high school drill teams were started back in 1928 by Gussie Nell Davis. She created the first drill team, then called a pep squad, at Greenville High School in Greenville, Texas. They were called the "Flaming Flashes" and they performed at every halftime show. After creating the Flashes, Davis was called to Kilgore College to form a college drill team. She created the world famous "Kilgore Rangerettes" to perform at halftime at the college. The Flaming Flashes and the Rangerettes now consist of a line of performers with the officers in front of the girls leading them at every game.