Bugle Corp?

jgravz33

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2007
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14
I play the French horn and am decent at it. I have heard things from actual cadets saying what a relief it was that they were on an intercollegiate sport or part of a team. They said it provides an escape time where you can even be with upperclassmen without being harassed and you are treated normal for a few hours. This would be the plan for me if i joined the bugle corp. The letter said the tryouts are sometime in early august.

My question is. Does anybody know how hard it is to make it on to the bugle corp? There are limited spots im just wondering how many people try out and things like that? any help would be appreciated.
 
They pretty much take everyone. and if you're using it to just get out of stuff, life in your squadron will just be worse for you when you are there. Most people know ICs work hard and all, and im not trying to dis D&B but they get out of a whole lot of stuff without any perceived effort. my roommates are both ICs and lots of times they go lifting for 2 hours then get the crap beaten out of them in football or soccer or basketball practice right afterwards. so just be warned. people will think you just joined it to get out of stuff, they won't necessarily like that, and will do their best to make life even harder for you. that's what i've seen at least. take it or leave it. also, you can't just quit it. they make you sign a contract that makes you stay for at least a year
 
First off, if you don't know about something, don't give false information. That's one of the issues we have on D+B- people who have never participated on the Corps giving out wrong info.

I'm a 3-degree and this is my second year on Drum and Bugle Corps. I'm the mellophone section leader (and since you play french horn, you'll probably be dealing with me if you decide to join).

Drum and Bugle Corps is a time commitment, primarily during first semester, which is football season. Being on D+B puts you on LOS status- which essentially means you don't play intramurals. D+B takes precedence over things like freshman training.

This is where people who are not on Corps get the attitude that D+B uses it as an excuse to get out of a lot of things. But most other cadets don't see the work that we put in. We have practices everyday 4:30-6:55 during football season and some weekend long practices too. You also have to be up earlier on football home game days, as well as travel to all away football games.

D+B is an amazing opportunity. It gives you a chance to do something you love, which makes this place just a little bit sweeter, especially as a freshman. You get the chance to go on some awesome trips (our trips for next year include West Point, San Diego and Vegas). Playing in the stands at football and basketball games is a blast, and beating Navy at the Interservice Drum and Bugle Competition would be pretty sweet too. It's a blast, and some of the best friends you make are on Drum and Bugle with you.

Essentially everyone makes the Corps, and even if you don't play an instrument, we can teach you. We're always looking for strong players.

If you're worried about academics or athletics, don't be. We make sure that you keep up with study sessions and we have more than enough people that can serve as tutors. D+B traditionally has one of the highest GPAs of all the clubs. We also do work-out sessions everyday so that you can keep up with your PFT scores.

People have negative attitudes about everybody here- honor guard, IC athletes, etc. If it's something you want to do, go for it, and don't let someone else's attitude affect yours.
 
If it's something you want to do, go for it, and don't let someone else's attitude affect yours.

That is about the best advice anyone could ever give. There's a lot of preconceived ideas. It happens at the academy just like it did in high school. e.g. if you're a jock, then you can't have a high gpa; "How many people think that recruited IC athletes would never have gotten into the academy on their own." I was so happy that my son received his appointment early (Oct-Nov) prior to being recruited. This way he could say that he got in on his own. There's a lot of bad attitudes to overcome. No, all the cheerleaders aren't dumb rocks. Musicians aren't all nerds. Club players aren't just athletes who couldn't make IC. Honor guard isn't just a bunch of ate up cadets who use to be in CAP and JrRotc.

Chrissy has the best advice. Listen to her. This is your life, your academy years, and your future. Do what you want to do. Don't do whatever because of what others' opinions are. Be a great cadet all on your own. Be a crappy cadet all on your own. Be an outstanding officer on your own. Be the type of officer that no one respects, all on your own. In other words, one of the #1 things the academy is trying to teach you is to become responsible for yourself and your own actions. This is the time to start. Make your own decisions and choices. And then live by them. Good advice Chrissy. Mike....
 
i apologize. i was just talking from the perspective i have seen and saying what people say. don't let that keep you from doing what you love. i'm actually in the jazz band here and love it. So i don't hate musicians or anyone like that at all. I was actually thinking about D+B. i just decided that i wanted to do more squadron things instead. again, sorry for what i said. i was just trying to give the perspective of someone on the outside.
 
i apologize. i was just talking from the perspective i have seen and saying what people say. don't let that keep you from doing what you love. i'm actually in the jazz band here and love it. So i don't hate musicians or anyone like that at all. I was actually thinking about D+B. i just decided that i wanted to do more squadron things instead. again, sorry for what i said. i was just trying to give the perspective of someone on the outside.

Btown - I think your reaction was reasonable. It's good to get that across to potential candidates as well. They WILL encounter that reaction. Whether it's IC (yes, I was an IC athlete at WP and heard it all the time) or D&B, they should expect a bit of cynicism from upperclass and even some of their own classmates.

Since the OP didn't open by saying they loved band and had always wanted to be in a D&B, but instead asked about escape and not being harassed and being treated normal, I also kind of had the impression they were looking at it a bit from the "what's in it for me" perspective.

My son is also looking at D&B and we've kind of considered both sides of that. He's always enjoyed band, but not "loved" it. But it would be nice to get those benefits, plus the travel and trips. But he has to realize he'll lose some time in his squadron and some of the negative attitudes he may encounter towards it. Plus the time commitment. I appreciate seeing/hearing everyone's opinion here!
 
There's nothing wrong with wanting an "escape" from everyday life. In fact, it's necessary to keep your sanity. It doesn't mean that you want to get out of things or are a crummy cadet. You don't want to be the bump in a log that isn't involved with anything outside of the squadron. D+B isn't the only activity that I'm involved in. I'm in the orchestra and also involved in the portuguese club. And in no way does it take away from my time with my squadron. Last semester I had 3 different jobs within the squad, including chief clerk.

You get back what you put in. There's no reason you can't be active in the squad and in an extracurricular. Just sayin'!

And like I said, there's negative attitudes towards all of the big clubs around here. If you want to be in D+B and participate in the squad, you can, and most of us do.
 
Essentially everyone makes the Corps, and even if you don't play an instrument, we can teach you. We're always looking for strong players.

Chrissy are you saying that not a lot of people try out so thats why everyone makes it...or you just have to be really bad to not make it. Im in the same boat as one of the other posts. Ive played the trumpet and french horn since the 4th grade...switched in 8th grade to the French Horn. Started to like it a lot in high school. Then i seriously blame everything on my next band teacher because he absolutely was horrible and made me hate it. But I would like to give it a try at least one year.
 
On a side note and question. The Academy band gave a concert in our area which we attended. Initially I thought is was Cadets but it is comprised of sgts and headed up by a lt col. They were professional musicians and the concert was fantastic. I was curious if these folks work with academy D&B corp cadets? If they do you will be in for a treat. If anyone gets a chance to go see one of their shows go to it - it is free and very entertaining.:thumb:
 
Each branch of the military has more musical groups than you can imagine. And these groups are "ACTIVE DUTY" military. They are made up of enlisted and officers. This is their job. Just like some people are pilots, mechanics, telecomm technicians, IT techs, doctors, etc... Some are musicians. But there are a lot of different musical groups in the military.
 
Texas- yes, we have worked with the Academy Band several times before. They often come to rehearsals and work with individual sections.

The Academy Band sometimes plays at our higher profile Parades that the D+B doesn't play for.
 
One of my sons' roommates during 4* year was D&B... he worked HARD, but loved it. He worked as hard as my son who was an IC.

Chrissy, it was good to read your summation. Keep up the good work!
 
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