Talk:United States Marine Band

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This article looks like it was copied from somewhere, due to the text half-way through the last section ("Marine Band Drum Majors"):

For a complete history of the Marine Band Director, click here.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by MrDrBob (talk • contribs) 15:20 UTC, December 30, 2005

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Are the marine band members technically memebrs of the Marines? Are they recruited from the Marines? --Lucifer(sc) 17:53, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, they are Marines. However they do not go to boot camp are are restricted to duty with the Marine Corps Band only. They do not go to combat, or do anything else other than duty with the band. Another thing when they enlist for duty with the band, they are given the rank of SSgt. Bunns USMC 14:01, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Marine in pictures wearing a bearskin

It appears that in the pictures the conducter of the band is wearing a bearskin. I thought this was only a custon in Britain as foot regiments had won the right to wear thier russian opponents bearskins after the korean war. Also why is the Marine corps band dressed in red- I seem to remember in the Tom Cruise movie that the marine band playing outside the campus buildings where Demi Moore walks across are dressed in regular service blues. I find this quite odd- Americans could have thier own version of the guards outside buckingham palace at some special American place of ceremony-odd —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.97.137.56 (talk) 15:35, 8 March 2007 (UTC).

Bearskins: No, it was not the Crimean War, but rather the War of the Seventh Coalition, specifically the Battle of Waterloo, (Netherlands, now Belgium) June 18, 1815. Originally awarded to the British Foot Guards to commemorate their defeat of the French Chasseurs of the Guard (who wore bearskins) by withstanding 12 cavalry assaults against the center of the British line. Several US military bands, in addition to the Presidents Own and the Commandants Own, outfit their drum majors in bearskins for ceremonial dress. Several European nations, as well as Canada, use bearskins in certain units when dressed in ceremonial uniforms.CobraDragoon (talk) 20:41, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

Correction

Not the Korean war- THE CRIMEAN WAR- consequences of typing fast —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.97.137.56 (talk) 15:37, 8 March 2007 (UTC).

Tom Cruise movie

What was it - a few good men or somthing. Also i seem to remember seeing the marine corps silent drill band dressed in blue and not red- somone explain —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.97.137.56 (talk) 15:38, 8 March 2007 (UTC).

Answers

The Marine Corps has several bands in it's entirety. The Marine Corps Band (the President's Own), the USMC Drum and Bugle Corps (The Commandant's Own), and one for each major base (I think 8 in total of these). They are all full Marines, they go to boot camp and MCT, they start as E1s and earn each additional rank (although the scores required for them to pick up E4 and E5 are notorious for being lower than for other MOSs month after month, 55xx field), and they are all fully combat-capable Marines (I've heard that they often pull security for the Commandant when he travels to combat areas, but that is a rumor). The confusion could be that they don't recieve any training in thier respective instruments, they must pass an audition before they enlist so that the Corps doesn't have to train them, but they do recieve the same military training as everyone else (I remember recruits in my boot camp platoon getting a tough time for admitting they held a band MOS). My apologies, I was thinking the D&BC, the band members do indeed skip boot camp and get E6, though they are technically enlisted and subject to UCMJ. How weak.
The Band wears the same Dress uniform as other Marines... but the colors are reversed (red with blue trim instead of blue with red trim); this was done because in colonial times, the band had to stand out from the infantry so they wouldn't get shot at (assuming the enemy followed the convention of not undermining commanders). The drum major is the only one to wear the tall bearskin cap. As far as I've seen, it's not too unusual for drum majors in the US to wear a unique headpiece like that. I've only ever seen the MCBand and the Drum&Bugle Corps wearing the red uniforms, however (when I have seen the base bands play, it's been in service or utility uniforms).
The band is indeed featured in the opening credits of A Few Good Men. You can also see the Texas A&M University Fish Drill Team depicting the Silent Drill Platoon. They wore dress blues in the movie, but the real drill team wears dress blue-whites mostly (they do wear the normal blues occasionally in winter months). Hope that answered everyone's questions. If you feel that I'm wrong, ask and I'll try to find references for you. Bahamut0013 18:55, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

The information that has been scratched out above was actually correct. The 5500 MOS Field of the United States Marine Corpse pertains to active duty musicians. There are currently 12 Fleet Marine Force Bands, with plans to reduce that number by the end of 2015. Marines in the 5500 field, are required to pass auditions before enlisting, go to Basic Training, go through combat training, and are Full-Service combat deployable Marines. The corrections that have been made are only applicable to the majority of members of the "President's Own". — Preceding unsigned comment added by Samarillama55 (talk • contribs) 06:43, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

References

The real scoop on Marine Corps bands

Yes, the President's Own does not go to boot camp. They enlist as E-6 (SSgt) because they are considered fully trained in their MOS when they enlist, and so the salary is competitive with the civilian world...and the auditions are as competitive as any orchestral audition in the civilian world.

There are 12 field bands, and the members of these bands as well as the Drum & Bugle Corps go to boot camp, go to combat training, and receive all training that other Marines receive. These Marines enlist as E-2 (PFC), and must pass an audition to receive a MEOP (Musician Enlistment Option Program) contract. This contract guarantees promotions at a faster rate than the typical Marine, as an incentive because no other MOS in the military requires it's personnel to be capable in their job before they enlist. These Marines attend the Navy School of Music for additional training and then report to their bands.

As far as uniforms go, the President's Own and the Commandant's Own (Drum & Bugle Corps) wear uniforms in the "reverse" color scheme as the normal dress uniforms. This is a tradition that goes back many years to the founding of our country. Drummers and buglers, the primary means of signaling the troops, were typically young boys and were considered non-combatants. They wore uniforms of a different color to signify this. Today these two ensembles wear Red coats whereas the field bands wear the regular dress blues of the Marine Corps. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.204.4.231 (talk) 13:08, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Instrumentation

A section on instrumentation is needed. The Marine Band has a truly symphonic sound in concert and the reason is in the instrumentation. Virgil H. Soule (talk) 00:20, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Promotions in the Band Field.

"The real scoop on Marine Corps bands" is a more accurate description on the promotion process. The thread on the actual page is misleading, would appear to be biased, and a change should be considered. Lastly, the education at the Navy School of Music is not the equivalent of a 4 year degree. The purpose of the school is to prepare you for playing in a military manner in the fleet (Autumnangel17 (talk) 00:10, 22 September 2010 (UTC)).

I quite agree. Whoever re-wrote the Members and organization section, it should be reverted to how it was about 2 weeks ago. This article is NOT about the 11 Marine Corps bands... this article is about the UNITED STATES MARINE BAND THE PRESIDENTS OWN. If somebody wants to write an article on the Marine Corps Bands, then they should do it. But as I see it, this is not the place to promote the fleet bands. Yoganate79 (talk) 00:14, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

Composers

It seems odd to me that the "Composers" section doesn't mention Sousa. Kendall-K1 (talk) 18:17, 9 July 2011 (UTC)

The Article Title Should be Changed

The Title of the Article should be renamed to: The President's Own Marine Band or The President's Own United States Marine Band. The President's Own is one of 14 Marine Bands currently in operation. There are 12 Fleet Marine Force Band's currently serving at bases accross the United States, in addition to the "Commandant's Own" Drum and Bugle Corps. This article focuses almost completely on the "President's Own" while providing little to no information on the 12 Fleet Marine Force Bands or the "Commandant's Own". Calling this article the United States Marine Band, is misleading by implying that the "President's Own" is the Official band of the Marine Corps which simply not true. The "President's Own" is simply a unit in the United States Marine Corps, that fills a specific function. [[Samarillama55 (talk) 06:59, 31 December 2011 (UTC)]]

Ensemble count

“The Marine Band is positioned at the United States Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony, and a 99-piece band marches in the inaugural parade back to the White House.” Does anyone know the historic reason The President’s Own uses a 99-member ensemble for this quadrennial event? Vesuvius Dogg (talk) 09:17, 17 April 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

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• US Navy 041110-N-1810F-161 The U.S. Marine Corps marching band plays for an audience attending a wreath laying ceremony honoring the U.S. Marine Corps' 229th birthday at the Iwo Jima National Memorial.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 00:34, 11 August 2020 (UTC)