[TPIN] Military Bands

[Achias1 at mchsi.com]

Ah, memories.

Actually, I didn't respond yet because I've already told my military story a 
couple times here.

Anyway, I enlisted in 1970 (during Vietnam) so I could afford college, went 
through the School of Music 
in Little Creek, and by pure luck, ended up at the NORAD Band in Colorado 
Springs. It was a great 
group of musicians from the army, navy air force and canadian forces. We toured 
approximately once a 
month throughout out the US and Canada. Until the draft ended, it was a very 
good group with a 
symphonic band, hot jazz band, and marching when we had to.

When the draft ended and good musicians no longer needed to go into the 
military, the musicianship 
plummeted. Eventually it was only a touring jazz combo and now no longer exists.

Two familiar experiences from the previous post:

1. I flew in a C-130 once too. When they handed out those small, pink things, I 
thought they were to 
chew on to counteract the pressurization. Didn't taste very good. Then I found 
out that they were ear 
plugs. We flew mainly C-118's and T-30's (?), but I also did trips in the 
Starlifter (141?), a Connie, and 
even a 119 (flying boxcar).

2. The people of Canada were ALWAYS warm, friendly, and generous to us. They 
always had great non-
military meals for us and treated us like celebrities. At one place, they had a 
reception for us and 
brought in some girls. Who immediately latched on to the girls? the married 
guys!

Dave


> Alright... I'll jump in, too.  I was an Air Force trumpet player with The
> Maxwellaires, stationed in Montgomery, AL.  The main point of interest for
> that band was that its legacy was being the "remnants" of Glenn Miller's
> Army Air Corp band.  In fact, one of our main shows was a Glenn Miller
> retrospective in which we wore the old Army Air Corp uniforms, and we cut a
> couple of albums doing that stuff.  I think I can still play Moonlight
> Serenade while sleeping.  ;-)  I was in from 1985 to 1988, and was the 2nd
> (jazz) player with the big band, and also played in the brass quintet.  We
> played each year at the International Air Show in Toronto, and always got
> stuck flying up there in the butt of a C-130 (ear plugs and winter coats --
> those puppies aren't insulated), but that show was a blast, and the Canadian
> Air Force treated us like royalty.  Always fun!  I'll spare the list my many
> stories, but if you've been in a military band, I know you've got 'em, too!
> The good, the bad, and the so insanely impossible that it just has to be
> true.  :-)
> 
> Cheers,
> Mark Deaton
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tpin-bounces at tpin.okcu.edu [mailto:tpin-bounces at tpin.okcu.edu] On
> Behalf Of Vaxtrpts at aol.com
> Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 1:58 AM
> To: tpin at tpin.okcu.edu
> Subject: Re: [TPIN] Military Bands - a new thread?
> 
> I was really surprised that more of you didn't respond to this  thread.  Are
> there really only three of us who served in military bands on  the whole
> list? 
>  I would have thought there were many more.  It is  really amazing how many
> of today's top players spent time in service bands at  one
> time..................
> Mike Vax