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Cadet Casey Rains shares a smile with veterans at the local VA Home in Oxford, Mississippi. She has been volunteering there for the past year and was instrumental in helping them raise money for new furniture in the day room. She is a junior Broadcast Journalism major at the University of Mississippi and hopes to be a Public Affairs officer in the United States Air Force. (Courtesy photo)
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Billy Mitchell Drill Team Performs
Posted 3/19/2012 Updated 3/19/2012
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by Cadet Major Christen Downing
University Of Florida Air Force ROTC, Detachment 150
3/19/2012 - NEW ORLEANS -- After a nine-hour drive on the endless Interstate 10 to New Orleans, the Billy Mitchell Drill Team was tired yet anxious to perform at the Mardi Gras Drill Meet the next day.
The team woke to an early 5:30 am wakeup call and donned their berets and black and white fourrageres.
As the color guard performed their sequence, the 20-man exhibition squad, led by Director of Operations Christian Soto, entered the judging area on the adjacent field to perform their 8-minute routine.
"They nailed it. This performance was better than any other practice run-through, and it is all because they didn't show any reservations," Soto said. "They exuded confidence and trusted each other, and I have never been more proud."
Norwich University and Texas A & M beat the team last year in every category and nobody knew who the Billy Mitchell Drill Team was, according to Vice Commander David Coffin.
"This year, due to the combined efforts of the whole team, we put BMDT back on the map," Coffin said.
The team beat all of the competition they faced the previous year, including Norwich University, Texas A & M, West Point Academy, The Citadel and University of South Carolina.
The two new teams to the competition this year, the Merchant Marine Academy and the Air Force Academy, came in first and second place respectively in platoon exhibition drill. The Billy Mitchell Drill Team came away with the third place trophy, only two points away from second.
Most of the top drill teams in the nation competed this year, "so in essence, the team is currently ranked the number three college drill team in the nation," Coffin said. "Not bad considering they learned in six weeks what the other academies and colleges do all year round."
The team's four-man color guard squad placed fourth out of 25.
Jenny Schulze, a BMDT member, performed an individual routine. Although Schulze did not come away with a trophy, she earned fourth place, and the judge said it was refreshing to see a female competitor handle a rifle with such ease.
"All around, a perfect team effort," Soto said. |
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