Why do soldiers still learn to march even though that it’s not practical in actual combat
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Marching is taught for a variety of reasons. First, it teaches active listening. As an outsider, this can be difficult to understand, but marching actually has many rules. Marching entails a lot more than just walking in a group. For example, you have to listen for specific commands like “column left” “to the rear,” “mark time,” and “half-step.” Marching teaches individuals to listen very closely (for the commands) and execute the command immediately. This is an important part of being a soldier/airman/sailor/marine. For the person calling the commands, you have to learn them all and use them to navigate the people you’re leading–often in a tight space (like on a parade field). These skills are also really important because it forces you to think on your feet. It’s a lot like playing an old-school video game where you have to be thinking ahead two or three steps to get past an obstacle. If you call out the wrong command while leading troops in a march, it can quickly become a mess (e.g. people bumping into each other, turning the wrong direction, etc.). Then there is the element of marching being a *group* activity where an individual’s actions will have consequences for everyone else. This is a critical lesson for military members because you have to rely on your team, and they have to rely on you–an individual making a simple mistake while marching can really mess up the entire group–and it’s better to learn this lesson doing a low-risk activity like marching than it is on the battlefield.
Background: am a 20+ year veteran who initially struggled with marching until I thought about how I learned to beat Super Mario 2
One thing missing from all these comments: pride.
Watch these guys [smarten up](https://youtu.be/nDQvYE8sbc8) when they see newbies.
Marching with your mates, under arms, is the best thing ever. If done correctly it will give you a boner that lasts a week.
It builds teamwork.
It is still a VERY good way of pushing physical fitness.
It is part of the “discipline” of the military life. Discipline in this sense is not the immediate unthinking response to order, but part of the self discipline of paying attention to what is going on around you. With a good drill instructor drill and marching is like an exercise in mindfulness. Attention to the surroundings, attention to what the people around you are doing, focus on just walking and moving as a unit.
The idea of being able to do a formation and wheel and fire volleys into your flank and then respond to a frontal attack is not necessary, but getting 80 people in order and from place A to place B in an organized, timely fashion does still occur on base.
Ever been to a place were 100+ people are trying to get in line and enter a building? Yeah marching and drill discipline is perfect for that.
I can’t remember where I read this, but a study was done where people were asked to do variety of tasks, some considered uncomfortable for normal people, and those who had marched in a group compared to those who hadn’t were more likley to perform the uncomfortable tasks. Really fascinating stuff.
The word “uniform” is taken to the N-th degree in the military. All I can speak to personally is the Army, but consider the word, most people hear uniform and they think of something you wear. It is, and in most cases where a uniform is something you wear the idea is to remove individuality, not to be degrading necessarily, but that is its point. The Army goes further with uniform to making each person a soldier. Soldier A should function exactly the same as soldier B. The way you move, the way you think, the way you dress, each action/reaction; programmed predictable responses. In this way, if one soldier falls in combat another can be put in his/her place without jeopardizing mission effectiveness.
If you do a job that ONLY you can do all the enemy need do is kill/disable you and the mission fails. If each soldier is just another “cog” in a larger machine, then when one breaks you can just put another one in place. This level of training only works when EVERY aspect of life is trained to be uniform, or unison if you like, it’s why even PT (physical training) is done “in cadence” each repetition of each exercise is done to a count and done as a unit. Think “mission first” and a lot of the things the military does starts to make more sense.
It’s also one of the earliest opportunities for a soldier to take command of other soldiers and issue orders.
Moving a block of 100 people with precision can be a little unnerving the first time.
It’s a teaching tool for many reasons. How to move as a unit, how to take orders, and builds self discipline. Not moving on parade when you aren’t supposed to, making precise movements in unison, and making it look good are all individual contributions to the unit’s overall image and perceived capability.
It also teaches recruits to act when they’re told to. Much easier to embed this with drill than say on an active rifle range.
A lot of it is practical in that it makes roll calls, giving orders, and moving people easier than gaggling. There’s also the ceremonial aspect of it.
Logistics. When you have 40+ people that need to get from one place to another, you need a disciplined march to ensure those 40 Soldiers/Airmen/Marines/Sailors don’t accidentally hurt themselves or break their gear in a chaotic gaggle.
The definition I’ve always learned is “Drill is used to move a group of people from point A to point B in a smart and orderly fashion.” Teaches cohesion, obedience and discipline. Though marching isn’t necessarily used in combat anymore, drill is used to build up into other movements and more complex and relevant strategies.
It may not be so useful on the battlefield tactically, but it’s still a good way to get everyone to the dining facility and the school house at the same time in an orderly manner.
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