OK, so I took a drill test and I failed :o.
SO... What the heck are "Close, March -- Extended, March" as I and a few other cadets have never seen them in any CAP book before...? :'(
I would ask my new Flight Sergent these questions, but even he didn't know. This is one of those days where you wish you knew a cadet in your neighborhood...
You can find the drill tests right here
http://members.gocivilairpatrol.com/media/cms/CAPT_782_Drill_Test_FINAL_0D0A619D59581.pdf
They are public so you can see what you will be tested on before you ever go take the test.
Our NCO's actually open up this drill tests and use it as their teaching guide during drill instruction time.
There are something like 16 commands that the drill tests never test you on, but what gets measured gets done,
or so i've been told.
Except, of course, for the 20 commands on the Wright Brothers, those remain 'closed book'
All of the drill commands in the test are covered in AFMAN 36-2203
http://capmembers.com/media/cms/AFMAN_362203_Air_Force_Drill__Cerem_C543D65B58565.pdf
There is also a pocket guide drill reference that strips down 36-2203. It is far from perfect, but it contains enough information to get you past your tests...
http://capmembers.com/media/cms/Drill_Guide__Reduced_E82AFEB111DF0.pdf
Good luck with this stuff.
If you don't have anyone in your squadron who knows how to do this stuff, it can be pretty hard to pick up.
You might even consider asking someone with some experience, maybe even from another unit, to come in and help you get your feet under you.
In short, close march moves the flight from 'normal' interval to 'close' interval.
Fall in (in line formation)
Do a right face (into column formation)
Command: Close Ranks, MARCH
The fourth element stands fast.
The third element takes 2x 12 inch steps to the right
The second element takes 4x 12 inch steps to the right
The first element takes 6x 12 inch steps to the right
At the end of this you will be pretty close to shoulder to shoulder.
Open ranks march everyone does the same thing (same number of steps), but they take their steps to the left instead of the right.
**There is also a variation of close and extend march that is done while the flight is marching at quicktime,
but i'm pretty sure you are not tested on that, long and short of it is you do a 45 right, 2steps, 45 left
2nd element does 4 steps
3rd element does 6
and reverse to extend
Haha, We just started working on these at our squadron. I was like "What the..." when I was looking at the D&C manual after my FLT/CC told me to practice these. Basically, Close march is where your flight "Compresses": that is, closes the distance between the elements while marching. Extend march is the exact opposite, or "Expanding" the flight.
Thanks, I just needed you to dumb it down so I could understand what it was. :P yes, I have looked at the test sheet and the pocket guide and both don't help that much. I will ask someone in person to teach me so I don't fail this time. :clap:
This discussion reminds me of an issue that is starting to rear its head in my squadron...
How do you practice and test these maneuvers in a small squadron (less than ten cadets)? Would a discussion of what should be done be sufficient?
Quote from: NC Hokie on April 01, 2011, 03:14:36 PM
This discussion reminds me of an issue that is starting to rear its head in my squadron...
How do you practice and test these maneuvers in a small squadron (less than ten cadets)? Would a discussion of what should be done be sufficient?
My cadets always drill with less than 10 cadets in their "flight." During drill time, we break the element leaders off, because they're all C/SrAs and need to learn how to command a flight. That gives our 5 element leaders 5-6 cadets to work with. They take their respective elements and teach them drill. For columns, etc they'll just tell the cadets they're in the "third" element this time and to do the maneuver accordingly.
About once per month, we'll run the entire cadet corps through drill as an entire flight, letting the element leaders cycle through. The Flight Sergeant and flight commander will give tips and tricks, corrections, etc from a distance.