March Madness: A Brief History of Military Bands

From George Washington’s fife players to combat rock groups, two centuries of a proud (if costly) tradition.

<a href="http://www.jackson.army.mil/sites/band/pages/234">282nd Army Rock Band</a>

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


One item that briefly landed on the budget chopping block this spring was the Pentagon’s funding for military bands, which, it turns out, adds up to around $320 million a year. Here’s a brief history of this proud, if costly, military tradition.

1776

George Washington, described as “an accomplished flutist” in an official Army history (PDF), orders more training for his fife and drum corps.

1865

Union General Philip H. Sheridan orders his musicians to “play the gayest tunes in their books…never mind if a bullet goes through a trombone, or even a trombonist, now and then.”

1918

Not to be outdone by our European allies’ grand bands, General John Pershing beefs up America’s bands. He later forms the US Army Band, still known as “Pershing’s Own.”

1945

Members of the 28th Infantry and 101st Airborne Division bands fight in the Battle of the Bulge. A truckload of sheet music is destroyed, despite the efforts of a bazooka-wielding clarinetist.

1969

The 1st Infantry Division band performs “The Colonel Bogey March” just one mile from a North Vietnamese Army regiment. According to an official account, “The enemy, confused by the action, withdrew from the area.”

1990

The 3rd Armored Division band deploys to Kuwait, where it “performed on the enemy side of a berm while the division advanced into Iraqi territory.”

2010

“Popular music elements,” such as rock bands like the one in the video below, are deployed in overseas combat zones. “If it can’t fit into two Blackhawks, it’s not going to happen,” an officer tells the New York Times.

2011

Congressional cost-cutters try to slash the band budget by $120 million. House Republicans like Texas Rep. John Carter step in and preserve “an integral part of the patriotism that keeps our soldiers’ hearts beating fast.”


AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate