I have to say I was quite disappointed at the whole event as it was not the usual polished performance.
If this was the case I would say that they had little chance to practise, and or prepare, however...the most junior service has "always" been notorious for its drill.
The only time we marched was in Boot Camp. The rest of the time we all had jobs not drill.
Royal Navies get around this issue by holding Divisions regularly wether you are ships company or a barrack / mess stantion.
And not to sound cranky on it, but marching in step, whilst conducting basic rifle drills can be complicated enough let alone playing an instrument and all that is associated with that.
However, I like you can't help but judge the drill of others when watching...after all those years of getting it ingrained into you, its hard to give it up.
Here is a small number of pics from the Armed Forces Day parade in Edinburgh last Saturday. The salute was taken by an Admiral, rather than the Queen, who was busy at Redford Barracks meeting regimental officers, which I found very disappointing.
The parade was of a generally poor standard with many troops obviously not well prepared, and the RAF Regiment, in particular, were hopelessly out of step.
Hi Alan - good pics. This Armed Forces Day seems to have a mixed reception and performance throughout the country. Many towns and cities held an event and the turnout was low due to lack of publicity. Many Veteran's Organisations are complaining that they were not informed till it was too late (you can't get a bus load of 80 year olds together with only 24 hours notice).
It seems that the 'Sun' newspaper has whipped this event into existence for it's own ends a year too early. The MOD wanted the first Armed Forces Day to be in 2010 but was over ruled - a political decision. The general consensus is that next year will be far, far better than this, with a greater input by the Forces in the planning stages.
Regards
Chas
Royal Air Force - 12 years
Good bands make for good Marchers. If the Marchers are poor - well what's the answer?
Originally Posted by acaig
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