The best of the Army's ceremonial units put on a show for Arlington's Neighborhood Day at Bluemont Park May 15. The hour-long pageant tells the Army's story, as well as features performances from the U.S. Army Drill Team, the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, The U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own," the Continental Color Guard and the Presidential Salute Battery, among others.
The U.S. Army Blues Jazz ensemble backed up Downrange, the Army Band's pop music ensemble, for a pre-ceremony concert that drew in hundreds of people from around Arlington to Bluemont Park. Audience members gathered on a hill - many of them with lawn chairs and blankets - to watch the tattoo.
As the crowd gathered, Col. Carl R. Coffman Jr., Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall commander, Debora Richert, deputy commander and Command Sgt. Maj. Jefferson Varner III, JBM-HH command sergeant major were welcomed by the community. Walter Tejada, an Arlington County board member, who signed the Army Community Covenant in 2008 with Fort Myer leadership, also joined Coffman, Richert and Varner in the front row.
The Fife and Drum Corps performed first, and as the announcer rattled off their history and the meaning behind their red uniforms, the Soldiers marched in several patterns, all while furiously fifing or drumming.
Next up was the U.S. Army Drill Team, fresh off their win at the 2010 Joint Services Drill Team Exhibition. The announcer encouraged the audience to cheer loudly, and they responded with loud applause in response to their precision movements.
The loudest cheer came when the team performed their signature maneuver, the front-to-back overhead rifle toss. The Soldier in front tossed his bayonet-tipped Springfield 1903 rifle almost fifteen feet behind him to the Soldier in back of the formation, who caught it.
This was followed by Soldiers from The Old Guard taking part in "The Flag Story," a vignette depicting the history of America's Army. Soldiers dressed in uniforms from every conflict, from the Revolutionary War to the current Middle East crisis, crossed paths during the skit, as the announcer rattled off the evolution of the Army, from a small band of rebels to the world's finest fighting force.
At the conclusion of the tattoo, Coffman joined the Continental Color Guard at the front of their formation to officially retire the colors. Soldiers stuck around after the performance to pose for photographs and answer questions from community members. "It's interesting to know just how many different elements there are right up the road {at JBM-HH]," said Shelly Dubovac, who lives in the nearby Penrose neighborhood of Arlington. "The band, the drill team, the singers, they put on a great show. And those Soldiers in period costumes were the icing on the cake."
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