Horizons Online Edition

Issue date: 3/10/08 Section: Diversions

A Master Sergeant inspects the award-winning honor guard team before their performance.

Most ROTC detachments have one or more drill teams. While the teams enjoy the opportunity to perform and show off their skill, they always look forward to the chance to compete against other drill teams.

For more than a decade, the University of Southern California's Air Force ROTC detachment 060 has hosted the Southern California Invitational Drill Meet, known as SCIDM.

SCIDM is one of the most prestigious ROTC drill meets in the nation. All branches of ROTC and JROTC are invited to participate at the event. The judges at SCIDM are active duty, non-commissioned officers from both Air Force and Marine Corps.

SCIDM 2008 was held on Saturday, Mar. 1 at Anaheim Angels Stadium in southern California. Over 30 schools from all over the United States attended the event with a total of over 500 individual competitors.

A lot of work went into the preparation of the drill meet. Detachment 060 spent six months planning the event and each participating school had to register early in January after the start of the spring semester.

Detachment 028 Honor Corps of the Strike Eagles Club sent eight teams - three honor guard and five four-person - to compete at SCIDM. Since the start of the semester, the teams spent an average of over eight hours per week practicing in preparation for the drill meet.

A ten-car caravan departed campus Thursday morning carrying over 40 cadets with all the uniforms and equipment. They arrived in Huntington Beach at 7:00 p.m.

The participants spent all of Friday morning practicing in a public park near their hotel. They received many suspicious looks from onlookers for carrying and tossing rifles and sabres in a public area. Friday night was spent preparing everyone's ceremonial uniforms for the competition.

The teams awoke before dawn on Saturday to leave for the Anaheim stadium. An Army Brigadier General spoke about the differences in leadership and management at the opening ceremony. After the speech, the drill meet began.

Teams had a wide variety of events in which to participate. There was armed and unarmed inspection, four-person drill team, armed and unarmed regulation, exhibition, sweepstakes, color guard, and drill down. The teams from ERAU only participated in four-person and color guard, and a few cadets entered the drill down.

The teams of ERAU detachment 028 were able to bring home one trophy from SCIDM. One of the honor guard teams came in third place out of 19 teams. Although only one of the eight teams from ERAU placed in the upper three for their respective categories, all participants had fun competing.

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