Military Marching for Beginners 



The fundamentals of military marching illustrated 

 to show the correct positions of a soldier in line 



By Albert B. Wegner 



JN these stirring times it is important that 

 boys of all ages and men of military age 

 should at least know some of the funda- 

 mentals of military tactics. There is 

 nothing more fundamental than marching. 

 Every group of boys or men who wish to 

 march should send for the U. S. Infantry 

 Regulations, price 35c, to the Superin- 

 tendent of Documents, Government Print- 

 ing Office, Washington, D. C. Unfortu- 

 nately, this excellent guide is not illustrated 

 and its detailed descriptions 

 are hard for the novice to 

 understand. Then, too, al- 

 though the matter is ar- 

 ranged logically it is not in 

 the best order for teaching a 

 beginner. The writer at- 

 tempts here to describe and 

 illustrate these fundamentals 

 in the simplest and most 

 progressive manner. 



Forming a Line 



The first thing to do with 

 a group of marchers is to get 

 them formed in a line. The 

 instructor, or officer, calls 

 out, "Fall in." At this, the 

 men line-up in two lines, 

 called "ranks," one rank 40 

 in. back of the other and 

 with the tallest at the right 

 of the lines. (The tallest man in the front 

 line; the next is directly back of him; the 

 third tallest takes his place at the left of the 

 tallest in the front rank; number four is 

 back of number three, etc.) 



Those at the extreme right of the lines are 

 the "guides." At the instructor's call 

 "Fall in" the guides take their places facing 

 the instructor. They stand erect, with 

 left hand on the hip, fingers pointed down- 

 ward, eyes straight to the front. 



The next in line take their places at the 

 left of the guides so that their right arms 

 just touch the left elbows of the guides. 

 With left hand on hip and heads turned to 

 right (called "eyes right") they aline with 

 the guides. 



All of the others "fall in" in the same 



manner. As soon as each one feels the one 

 at his left touch his elbow he himself drops 

 his elbow and turns his head to the front. 



The position that each now has is called 

 "Attention" in which he stands erect, heels 

 together, shoulders back and down, feet at 

 45 deg. angle. 



The instructor now calls, "Right dress." 

 At this all place the left hand on the hip and 

 turn eyes to right, holding that position 

 until the instructor goes to the right of the 

 lines to see if they are 

 straight. If anyone is out 

 of alinement he calls to 



him "Mr. . forward" 



or "backward" as the case 

 may require. If several 

 are out of alinement the 

 instructor calls attention 

 to that part of the line as 

 "backward at the center," 

 or "forward at the left." 

 After the instructor is sat- 

 isfied that the lines are 

 straight he commands 

 "Front," at which all face 

 to front, dropping their 

 hands into position of 

 "Attention." 



The positions of "Atten- 

 tion" and "Eyes Right" 

 in forming a Company line 



Simple Movements While 

 Standing in Line 



The next things to learn 

 are a few simple movements while in 

 line. Nearly all commands are given 

 in two parts. The first is the "prepar- 

 atory command," that tells the soldier 

 what to do. The second is the "command 

 of execution," when he must begin the 

 movement. There is always a pronounced 

 pause between these commands so as to 

 give all time to understand and prepare 

 for the movement. 



"Parade — Rest." At the command 

 "Rest" step backward 6 in. with the right 

 foot, the body weight on the right leg, the 

 left knee slightly bent. At the same time 

 place the thumb of the left hand between 

 the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, 

 all fingers extended downward. 



"Company — Attention." At the com- 



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