Summerall
Guards performances are a display
in precision and pageantry
What you will see when The Citadel's precision drill team marches by the White House viewing platform is not what the Summerall Guards are known for.
Because
of the timing
of today's inaugural parade, the Summerall Guards will not perform their
characteristic drill.
When
the college's elite silent drill platoon goes to Mardi Gras, the Wilmington,
N.C., Azalea Festival, or a Carolina Panthers game, they perform a unique
series of movements based on the old German close order drill. The purpose
of the performance, which is executed to a silent count, is to exemplify
the exactness and thoroughness with which a Citadel cadet is trained.
Each performance lasts 12 to 14 minutes and cadets carry M 1903 A3 Springfield
rifles, which are weighted and perfectly balanced.
The
platoon, which was created in 1932, is made up of 61 cadets plus alternates.
Their routine is passed from one class to the next through demonstration;
it has never been written down.
Membership
in the platoon is considered to be one of the highest honors a cadet can
achieve. Many Guards are also very active in other
things on campus. Among the members are the regimental commander and
regimental executive officer, the two highest ranking cadets; 11 company
commanders, one battalion commander, the chairman of the Honor Court,
two athletes, an Air Force cadet wing commander and a battalion executive
officer. In addition, 36 Guards plan to be commissioned into the military
or law enforcement upon graduation in May 2005 or are currently serving
in the National Guard. d.
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