Afternoons spent with The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps are full of rehearsals, bus rides and a dash of down time, but a behind-the-scene glimpse also reveals corps members wear more than just their tricorn performance hats.
Formed in 1960 and stationed at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, the corps of fifers, drummers and buglers travel the country entertaining everyone from the president of the United States to parade watchers. They travel extensively from Hawaii to California and up and down the eastern seaboard. One of their goals is to add dignity and pomp to official state visits and civic events.
They love what they do - many have dreamed to dress in the white wigs, red greatcoats and revolutionary-style hats since they could first lay their hands on a musical instrument.
"I love it; this is what I live for. I love performing for people," said snare drummer Staff Sgt. Alex Kuldell. "I grew up watching the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. I was in the Patriots of Northern Virginia [a local junior corps], and we used to come to Conmy Hall, and we watched them perform as part of our annual banquet."
Fifer Staff Sgt. Lindsay Natiw is approaching her sixth anniversary as a Fife and Drum Corp member. Performances, or missions as they are called, provide a spectator with historical music and tight marching precision; for Natiw, the corps has provided her the opportunity to play for a vast audience.
"I've performed for the president; I perform for kids, I perform for literally everybody, and each time, I get really excited to do it," said Natiw, who is a native of Michigan. "Sometimes, if I can make it, I will go to performances even when I'm not on and just watch. I mean, I've wanted to do this since I was little."
One of the latest Fife and Drum Corps missions was to appear at the opening ceremonies at the Arlington County Fair. The corps has now performed at every ACF opening ceremony, and for the 2011 festivities, Major General Michael Linnington and his wife Brenda plus JBM-HH Command Sergeant Major Necati Akpinar and his Family were on hand to watch the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps and to reaffirm and maintain the strong community relationship between JBM-HH, JFH-NCR and MDW and the Arlington County Fair Board and the Arlington County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources.
But the day of drumming, fifing and bugling didn't start with the fair Aug. 11 opening ceremonies. Many corps members were awake before dawn preparing to practice for "The Spirit of America," a U.S. Army pageant filled with music, history and drilling demonstrations.
Staff Sgt. Heather Tribble is a super - a stand-in - for the Washington portion of "The Spirit of America," which is scheduled for Sept. 9 and 10. She needs to be more than familiar with the 12 fifer spots for the SOA shows.
"Ideally, when you come in that early in the morning [for a rehearsal], you'd have the afternoon off," Tribble said. "We're not tasked that much, but we're kind of short on people right now. Sometimes we can't go home in the middle of the day."
The day of the Arlington County Fair mission is one of those days. Some corps members practiced for Spirit of America only to turn around and assemble for the Arlington County Fair performance.
"You get up at four in the morning and work an 18-hour day. During the middle of that day, your brain has to be functioning," Tribble added. "You have to be ready to do a show. You can't let your mind wander."
The pre-performance time clock starts when the corps' small team show, led by drum major Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Huddleston, meets for a walk-through inside the combined offices and studio. Roughly two hours before the Arlington show, the group practices the steps to a 12 to 13 minute musical compilation of Revolutionary War era selections. Each sub-group - the fife, the bugle and the drum line - will take center stage and be featured. At the rehearsal, corps members are without their trademark wigs, tricorn hats and red greatcoats. Those finishing touches to the uniform are added right before show time.
"It does get a little warm," Huddleston said of temperature conditions when wearing the uniforms. "We wait to the last minute [to get completely uniformed].
"This is definitely wool - there are several layers of it," the drum major added as he described the standard greatcoat. "This represents the uniform worn in the early 1780's by the continental musicians. When I say the continental musicians, I don't mean the Continental Army. It was standard practice in that period for musicians to wear the reverse color of their infantry units they were attached to. The Continental Soldiers wore blue coats with red trim, so we wear red coats with blue trim."
After the 15 minute rehearsal, Huddleston addressed the group and told all assembled that the Arlington Fair performance, from a marching standpoint, would be a "standard gig" and that he was pleased with the run through.
"I was happy with that - that was a good rehearsal," he told his fellow musicians.
A bugler by trade, Huddleston, has moved up the ranks of the Fife and Drum Corps hierarchy, and about an hour and a half before the Arlington County Fair appearance, the drum major explained his philosophy about pre-mission nerves.
"[Having butterflies] is good," he said. "It kind of helps you keep the edge. Being nervous as a drum major is different than being nervous as a bugler. As a bugler, it's the playing as well as the marching. As a drum major, I'm trying to make sure I put the corps in the right places and give them the correct mark time and ready steps."
Huddleston's uniform has a few more distinguishing elements than a bugler's or a drummer's garb. He wears a light infantry cap covered with leather and bear fur and a baldric which is a front leather strap which holds a pair of drumsticks which signifies his status as the drum major.
And then there is the espontoon. During a mission, the espontoon is Huddleston's line of communication with other corps members.
"The espontoon is an eighteenth century weapon," he explained. "It is particularly used as a device for me to give signals to the musicians. Different movements give them different commands, [such as] when to start playing and when to stop playing and when to start marching and when to stop marching."
After the practice, some corps members stay in groups to chat, while others read or work on additional duties they are assigned. No corps musician is just a fifer, drummer or bugler; for example, Tribble also works in the hat and wig shop and handles public affairs.
One hat Staff Sgt. Britt Chiles proudly wears is as a mother. After the mid-afternoon rehearsal and waiting for the bus, she found some quality time with a reading of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to her 6-month old son Gavin, while her fellow corps members munched candy and energy bars.
With 75 minutes to show time, the Fife and Drum Corps is en route to the Arlington County Fair. Now joined by corps announcer Staff Sgt. Richard Ruddle, the majority of the musicians will stay in the air-conditioned bus when arriving at the fair, but Huddleston disembarks to logistically map out the venue. After the drum major scopes out the site with Arlington County Fair officials, the ensemble goes through one more walk-through, and now all that remains is the complete suit-up involving the white wigs, great coats and tricorn hats, the performance and some chat to pass the time.
Bus conversations can be quite varied, but part of this day's talk centers around performing in front of fellow musicians and family members. Many corps members really endeavor to outdo themselves - and their nerves - when peers and Families are in the audience.
"At the White House, I've stood 15 feet from the president, that was nothing, but when my Family is on hand, that is a different story," Ruddle said.
At 6 p.m., the corps leads off the opening ceremony with its musical compilation. After the 14-minute show, the corps is back on the bus and the five-minute ride back to JBM-HH begins.
While every musical mission is an integral and significant part of the Fife and Drum Corps' schedule, corps members never forget the big shows. While a college football player dreams to play on the turf of Notre Dame's fabled Rockne Stadium or a minor leaguer shoots for an at-bat at Yankee Stadium, the Fife and Drum Corps also have the five-star venues where they yearn to play.
"I performed at the White House and the Pentagon. I'll always hold those performances dear in my heart," said Natiw. "I really like travelling. Right now, being in the Spirit of America is probably my favorite part. The rehearsals are extremely rigorous and quite difficult sometimes, but I get to travel and play my instrument - that's what I signed up to do here."
Related Links:
The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps
Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region and U.S. Army Military District of Washington
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