What do they do for the military? Do they fight? Do they get paid? Are they outsourced musicians or are they actually part of the military? Also, why?
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They are part of the military and go through basic training like other soldiers, or at least used to be. Source: my dad played drums for the Army band.
Edit for another fun fact: there are also Army artists! Or at least used to be. After my dad played in the band, he drew illustrations for Army manuals. Obviously this was way pre-digital era.
They’re ceremonial now, but historically drums (and trumpets and flags and such) were how you gave orders during a battle.
Edit: Wow. Did not anticipate that much attention to an offhand ELI5 answer. Here’s a link to some excellent options if you’d like to help Ukraine, be it humanitarian support or otherwise. Every bit helps: https://linktr.ee/RazomForUkraine
Edit v2.0: Shoutout to all the commenters for elaborating on my brief response. Made for some interesting reading
Yes, they are part of the military. Yes they get paid. The position is largely cerimonial nowadays but, drummers and such used to help keep cadence for large formations. (during the american revolution, etc)
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