United States Military Bands
There are many military bands in the United States military. Some are assigned to specific military bases or units. There are also bands associated with each of the service academies.
Ten bands are considered to be premier, with members selected by screened competitive audition prior to enlisting in the particular service. Members of these bands often come from prestigious conservatories and schools of music. Each service may designate as many premier bands as necessary, usually to fulfill different needs. The United States Marine Band and the United States Coast Guard Band stand alone for their services. The United States Air Force Band and the United States Navy Band have each designated two. The United States Air Force Academy Band and the United States Naval Academy Band serve ceremonial and entertainment purposes at those institutions, while the U.S. Air Force Band and the U.S. Navy Band provide ceremonial and entertainment elements within the Washington D.C. area. The United States Army has designated four premier bands: the United States Army Band, primarily serving within the Washington D.C. area, the United States Army Field Band under the command of the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs and serving the entire nation, the United States Military Academy Band serving as do the bands in the other academies, and the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, serving as ceremonial support but in the style of the American Revolutionary era. All ten of these bands are considered permanent duty stations.
Other bands in all services are staffed with members who have enlisted in the relevant service, then passed an audition to attend one of the armed forces' music schools. Unlike the premier bands, these members are rotated among a services' bands serving at various installations. These bands may provide support at their designated installations, but also frequently deploy to combat zones to provide support for the troops stationed there.
They perform in parades, military parades, presidential inaugurations, state funerals, State Arrival Ceremonies or seated, in concert.
Read more about United States Military Bands: United States Army Band Program, United States Marine Band, United States Navy Band, United States Air Force Band, United States Coast Guard Band
Famous quotes containing the words united states, united, states, military and/or bands:
“I feel most at home in the United States, not because it is intrinsically a more interesting country, but because no one really belongs there any more than I do. We are all there together in its wholly excellent vacuum.”
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)
“Man is to himself the most wonderful object in nature; for he cannot conceive what the body is, still less what the mind is, and least of all how a body should be united to a mind. This is the consummation of his difficulties, and yet this is his very being.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
“... there is a place in the United States for the Negro. They are real American citizens, and at home. They have fought and bled and died, like men, to make this country what it is. And if they have got to suffer and die, and be lynched, and tortured, and burned at the stake, I say they are at home.”
—Amanda Berry Smith (1837–1915)
“Who are we? And for what are we going to fight? Are we the titled slaves of George the Third? The military conscripts of Napoleon the Great? Or the frozen peasants of the Russian Czar? No—we are the free born sons of America; the citizens of the only republic now existing in the world; and the only people on earth who possess rights, liberties, and property which they dare call their own.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“Nearly all the bands are mustered out of service; ours therefore is a novelty. We marched a few miles yesterday on a road where troops have not before marched. It was funny to see the children. I saw our boys running after the music in many a group of clean, bright-looking, excited little fellows.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)