Navy is losing bands... again

[Jeff Keller]

Everyone,

I know that these are uncertain times for all of us musicians. The Navy Music Program released an official announcement that it will be closing two band locations and redistributing the members to other bands. I think that in an effort to save money, we may have revealed our tiny foothold on a slippery slope.

Here is what Navy Band Mid-South posted on their Facebook page:

"IMPORTANT NOTICE TO OUR CUSTOMERS
Due to restructuring executed within our organization, Navy Band Mid-south's remaining assets will cease operations as follows:

July 6, 2014 - All Ensembles

Performances already confirmed will proceed as scheduled..."

If you value or see a value in military music, your elected officials are the ones that need to know.

The other band to feel this blow (no pun intended) is Navy Band New Orleans. With an ominous feeling in the air filled with uncertainty, I feel like military music is a character in a George R R Martin Book.

"Winter is coming..."

[EdFirth]

I played iin the 392nd Army Band at Fort Lee then the West Point Band from 1970 to 1973. They were both,and I'm sure still are terrific bands much loved by military as well as the civilians in the area. There's one big difference between now and then. In the post bands(Ft. Lee etc.) in the 35 piece band there were mabye 8 lifers(career guys) and even at West Point it was 2/3rds short timers.The short timers don't get above E6 whereasthe lifers make E6 in 3 to 5 years and continue on up to E9 for the rest of their careers.Then they can retire as early as age 38(in my case) and begin a lifetime of a nice pension and free medical. Today just about ALL of the players are lifers.There's really not much going on outside. And how many professional full time concert bands are there? So today's bands, as great as they are. are an incredibly expensive, kind of out of step with what is currently popular, nicity being preserved by the military and paid for with everyone's taxes. It is very sad to be sure but everything in our society is cash powered and cash is in short supply these days.I sincerely wish all the military bandspeople all the best of luck in these lean times.Ed

[b.williams]

I played iin the 392nd Army Band at Fort Lee then the West Point Band from 1970 to 1973. They were both,and I'm sure still are terrific bands much loved by military as well as the civilians in the area. There's one big difference between now and then. In the post bands(Ft. Lee etc.) in the 35 piece band there were mabye 8 lifers(career guys) and even at West Point it was 2/3rds short timers.The short timers don't get above E6 whereasthe lifers make E6 in 3 to 5 years and continue on up to E9 for the rest of their careers.Then they can retire as early as age 38(in my case) and begin a lifetime of a nice pension and free medical. Today just about ALL of the players are lifers.There's really not much going on outside. And how many professional full time concert bands are there? So today's bands, as great as they are. are an incredibly expensive, kind of out of step with what is currently popular, nicity being preserved by the military and paid for with everyone's taxes. It is very sad to be sure but everything in our society is cash powered and cash is in short supply these days.I sincerely wish all the military bandspeople all the best of luck in these lean times.Ed

During your time there was a little thing called Viet Nam. So being a musician was the lesser of many evils. If it weren't for the draft I suspect you and most of the other short timers wouldn't have been there at all.

[EdFirth]

I enlisted, had a football scholorship and blew out my knee, but you are right, the draft provided lots of cheap labor in ALL of the military jobs. That's kind of my point. Times change and business changes with it or folds. Unless it's government funded. But now the government is under alot of fiscal scrutiny. Mabye they can work something out. I hope so.Ed

[b.williams]

I enlisted, had a football scholorship and blew out my knee, but you are right, the draft provided lots of cheap labor in ALL of the military jobs. That's kind of my point. Times change and business changes with it or folds. Unless it's government funded. But now the government is under alot of fiscal scrutiny. Mabye they can work something out. I hope so.Ed

What will happen is that the armed forces will be reduced until we are perceived as weak and some other enemy will attack us and then the build up will begin and all bands will be restored. How many times must we repeat this process?

[Cthuba]

I remember talking to the conductor of pershings own and he had said that it would cost only .75 out of taxpayers to pay for all of the musicians in the bands.

Fwiw

[Pat S]

Dismantling military bands is a bad idea. The challenge, given the current budget crunch, is to find a way to demonstrate "return on investment" to the bean counters. That's a toughie. I was Commander of the AF Theater Hospital in Balad AB Iraq back during a frisky part of that war. We were fortunate enough to have an Army Dixieland Band helo in to entertain the patients. I was not surprised to see the US military patients and staff perk up when the band came through. What I did NOT expect was the reaction of the Iraqi patients (good guys and bad). They LOVED the band. Since part of the art of war is winning the hearts and minds of those we oppose or defend, I propose that there was a great deal of return on investment for that showing of musical goodwill.

[SC FatScotchAle]

I remember talking to the conductor of pershings own and he had said that it would cost only .75 out of taxpayers to pay for all of the musicians in the bands.

Fwiw

The cost(s) are the public relations hits when members get into legal issues. That's the management (senior enlisted/officers) either getting into trouble, or being unable to control their people.

Social media tends to vent the issues in these bands. There's been several administrative hearings and those personnel leave the service almost immediately. That's in all of the service bands.

While $.75 isn't much at all, and I agree, there's a lot of manpower wasted in attempting to manage them.

[Mark]

I remember talking to the conductor of pershings own and he had said that it would cost only .75 out of taxpayers to pay for all of the musicians in the bands.

Fwiw

The problem with this logic is that if every program only cost 75 cents per taxpayer and there were only 100,000 programs, that would be $75,000 per taxpayer.

[Sandlapper]

What did Harvey Phillips say in his autobiography about the reason for the death of circus bands....

Won't be long now before all parades will be just a keyboard and electronic bass

[swillafew]

[Jeff Keller]

Also released,

The Naval Adacemy will be reduced in size to 34 members.

[TexTuba]

In all seriousness: What do military bands do? I would love to know.

Please note: That question comes with no snark, trolling, or anything ill-willed. I genuinely would like to know what their role is in today's world.

[thezman]

That depends who you ask:

If you ask the muckity-mucks who make the big decisions, the bands are seen along the lines of the Army Nascar. It is a recruiting tool.

Obviously, however, the bands provide a much more significant role than that. They have various ceremonial roles (these vary based upon the group, but they all do) and also provide an exceptional amount of free music education to schools.

Also, they provide joy to millions of fans of wind band music and are often the only professional group a young, interested person might see. So start counting those utils!

[Jeff Keller]

Our jobs vary on who is the sponsoring entity.

In northern Africa, for instance, we go and play for dozens of local villages. Al Qaeda is moving into that area. By us being there first, killing people with kindness (poor choice of words, I know), playing, singing, dancing..., it helps establish/cultivate a level of rapport that prevents the locals from choosing the wrong side.

This week I played in a wing of a Veteran's Affairs Medical Center that is dedicated to veterans who are struggling with traumatic events that have left them in bad state of mind. I sat and played for the people that have given their body and minds for the U.S. I saw some smile for the first time in months.

We do play a lot of ceremonies for dignitaries (foreign and domestic), retirements, changes of command, public concerts and parades.

Here in the States, our main function (other than ceremonial functions) is in recruiting for the Armed Services. A lot of the places to which we travel have never seen anyone in uniform. In areas that are landlocked, they have probably never seen a Navy Sailor.

I really do appreciate you asking this question. I thought that I knew the job scope before I signed on the dotted line, and boy was I off.

Jeff

[Pat S]

In all seriousness: What do military bands do? I would love to know.

One word: morale!

[burningchrome]

In Iraq, USO tours would come through the big bases, but not the small far flung ones. You can't send Toby Keith to Fallujah, but you can send an Army rock band, and those Marines were very appreciative.