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This gentleman is conducting a couple of Sousa marches for our Patriotic concert in a few days. He was the conductor of one of the Army bands for a long while I believe. Do any of you ex-military bandsmen recognize the name. Can I say "hi" for you or any other personal message if you do?

I met Col. Baldwin tonight. Delightful gentleman. Says he was the conductor of Pershing's Own for 20 years at least part of the time during Eisenhower's administration. Some of you old guys might know him. Chime in if you do.

Looks like he wasn't commander. Maybe he was Exec. Officer, the #2 guy, or somehing like that.

From their website:

Past Commanders

Warrant Officer Francis Leigh (1922)
Warrant Officer William J. Stannard (1923-1935) 1st Official
Captain Thomas F. Darcy (1935-1946)
Lt. Colonel Hugh J. Curry (1946-1964)
Colonel Samuel R. Loboda (1964-1976)
Colonel Eugene W. Allen (1976-1990)
Colonel L. Bryan Shelburne, Jr. (1990-2000)
Colonel Gary F. Lamb (2000-2005)
Colonel Thomas Rotondi, Jr. (2005-present)

More like "CLUELESS Ronnie."

FYI, the US Army Band consists of eight ensembles. The Commander conducts of the US Army Concert Band; the other seven ensembles are conducted by others.

Col. William Baldwin, US Army Band (Retired) conducts the Callanwolde Concert Band

sungfw wrote:More like "CLUELESS Ronnie."

Nah. More like "I'm a WANKER Ronnie."

Evil Ronnie wrote:Looks like he wasn't commander. Maybe he was Exec. Officer, the #2 guy, or somehing like that

"Quote by sungfw"
FYI, the US Army Band consists of eight ensembles. The Commander conducts of the US Army Concert Band; the other seven ensembles are conducted by others.

sungfw,

I was a member of the U.S. Army Field Band of Washington, D.C. for six years. I am very well aquainted with procedures and policies regarding the U.S. Army's special bands. I simply pointed out that Col. Baldwin wasn't the commander of the band and must have been a junior officer attached to the band (Executive Officer, Assistant Conductor, Associate Conductor, etc...) What didn't you understand about that? All of the major service bands have mulitple/asst. conductors in order to complete their missions.

We have no record of COL Baldwin serving here at the US Army Band "Pershing's Own" . Perhaps another unit such as the US Army Field Band.

Evil Ronnie wrote:What didn't you understand about that?

My apologies. Since I saw nothing in either of tbn.al's posts that could be construed as suggesting that Col. Baldwin claimed to have been commander, given your moniker, your use of a casual designation "the #2 guy, or something like that" as opposed to formal designations such as "junior officer," "assistant conductor," associate conductor," etc, and the fact that on most of the boards I hang out on the "twisted evil" emoticon is most commonly employed to convey mischievous or malicious intent, I misread the register (tone) of your post as sarcastic, i.e., "Looks like he wasn't commander (= conductor), after all. Maybe he was Exec. Officer, the #2 guy, or something like that. (Yeah, right.)"

Evil Ronnie wrote:All of the major service bands have mulitple/asst. conductors in order to complete their missions.

Although 2 can be considered multiple, the US Coast Guard Band has only one conductor and one assistant conductor:

http://www.uscg.mil/band/

The DC bands have many more...

From Col. Baldwin's bio, "From 1959 to 1964 he was a conductor of the main United States Army Band in Washington, DC." I have always understood that Pershing's Own was the main United States Army Band in Washington, DC. Maybe I am wrong and this refers to another group such as the Army Field Band. "A" conductor could also mean one of their side groups.

From personal experience, memories generally fade as bios expand when you get on the far side of 60. In any event Col. Baldwin showed up at our concert to benefit our veterans ministry in full military dress, was introduced to a crowd of a couple of thousand as a former conductor of the "Army Band", waved through "Stars and Stripes" and went home with a smile on his face......as did we. 'nuff said.