Will the FTAB be rehearsing for the Bowl Game in Houston? If so, I hope they will wear a military uniform instead of non-regs like they did last year.

Yes they will. Don't know about the rehearsal uniform though.

509th if you have any stroke with them, please, please, please get them in a proper drill field uniform for the rehearsals. It makes for a much better recruiting tool than seeing them on the field in jeans, cargo shorts and what ever else a high school band would typically roll out in.

Rehearsals will be in jeans and Aggie Band travel gear polos.

Bass, what is the reason behind the jeans? I like the unified polos, but if the weather is cold do y'all have unified jackets?

Why not BDU's?

1. Not sure why jeans were chosen.
2. The only uniform jackets we would have would be the black jackets issued by the MPW.
3. We will not wear BDU's, ever, because they have not been issued in four years.

It's just another Corps trip boys, we'll march in behind the band.

The FTAB is not far from becoming a non reg band. They made this mistake last year and make it again this year. Tell me which photos more accurately reflect the Aggie Band and would be a better recruiting tool? That is if the FTAB is going to remain a part of the Corps of Cadets.

Aggie Band at Cotton Bowl Practice circa 1988


Aggie Band at Cotton Bowl Practice circa 2011



Aggie Band Drill Field Uniform circa 1986



Aggie Band Drill Field Uniform circa 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkdaPJq_7MU

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3. We will not wear BDU's, ever, because they have not been issued in four years.

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ACUs, BDUs, utilities, it's all the same. But if I'm not mistaken, y'all do morning drill in PT gear now, right?

Cotton Bowl practice 1988 could have been Cotton Bowl Practice 2005. (except for the field jackets)

[This message has been edited by airplane driver (edited 12/17/2011 4:45p).]

So in the last five years we have gone from BDUs/ACU's for the uniform to shorts and T-shirts and tennis shoes or civilian clothes for the drill field uniform. That doesn't sound good. Like I said, close to becoming a non reg band.

honestly i hope its a closed practice so ppl cannot complain about what they wear.

Its simply ridiculous to blame it one these kids that "they are becoming a non reg band." they put in the hours, just like you did, and worked just as hard for their title of BQ. If you want to get mad do something about it, call the directors. But don't harp on these kids, they are just doing as told.

OK, I will play. What uniforms besides midnites and summers are kids issued currently? No form of what in ancient times we called 'fatigues' anymore?

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Its simply ridiculous to blame it one these kids that "they are becoming a non reg band." they put in the hours, just like you did, and worked just as hard for their title of BQ. If you want to get mad do something about it, call the directors. But don't harp on these kids, they are just doing as told.

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You know how people complain about the football team and underperforming and not having intense practices? Well we hold the band to that level of perfection as well. Perfection in practice includes looking the part

and the band still has a perfect track record as far as I am concerned. so until something goes wrong to where they lose half of their halftimes (reference to football losing half their games) then we will have something to complain about. Until then, they are still fantastic, and I'm proud to say that. Your point clearly made no sense sir.

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they are still fantastic, and I'm proud to say that. Your point clearly made no sense sir.

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glad that you are proud of average performances. We just fired a football coach for producing an average football team.

average performances? wow.. old ags from the band routinely tell me that the band of the last ten years to present sounds better and looks better then any band they were in or could have dreamed of being in.

with all due respect sir, stop being so grumpy and be happy to be an Aggie. Support you're fellow Ags.

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old ags from the band

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probably guys and gals from the 90's to today..I know lot's of guys from my generation who are not impressed.

But I'm glad you support the band, that's a positive.

Oooops!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKaO2grDkK0

I agree 100% the FTAB needs to drill in a uniform. It looks sharper and great recruiting tool.

Band may sound better - females tend to play woodwinds so the numbers for that type of instrument has increased - but the marching in recent years, which to me would be from the early 90's on has not been near as good as what I remember from earlier eras. The Aggie Band has always been a visual medium, music is just something to march to.

If you are a former bandsman from the 60's or 70's you know what I am talking about. Things evolve but messed up diagonals and poor alignment are what they are. Either you are lined up or you are not. Either you seesaw or you don't. I was glad to see Minstrel Turns make an appearance back this season, they have been out of favor for years it seems.

The earlier pix of the band practicing in uniform is what it was and what it should for ever be. Letting practice degenerate into jeans and shorts and whatever is a slippery slope. The Aggie Band was/is better than that.

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close to becoming a non reg band.

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you are not very bright, are you? I am ashamed to have been in the band at the same time as you. As one of your butts, i failed to mold you into someone who we as Aggies can be proud of.

You should keep stupid comments like this inside your little brain because you don't know what you are talking about. You must have no idea on how to recruit for the Corps of Cadets and the FTAB because its not what they do over christmas break at a couple of drills in non regs that is shedding a negative light on the band, it is stupid comments like this that makes the band look bad.

The band will most likely start with over 400 bandsmen and women next year who have decided to accept the challenge of the Corps of Cadets and the Fightin Texas Aggie Band. I realize that it is no where near how difficult it was when we were there but these young men and women are still challenged everyday in both the FTAB and Academically.

Though things have changed, Cadets are coming out more prepared for life than ever. Just because some of the Old Army things are gone, doesnt mean they have become non regs.

Do you remember what happened in 1985? I do.

That was the year after i died from the Corps and it was the year that the FTAB went to hell...or so we thought at the time. I was devastated when women were allowed in the band because it meant that the band would no longer be a challenge. Or so I thought. The band continued to get better and is now much better at marching that ever. The leadership opportunity is still there and people are more prepared than ever. Its good to learn how to work with both males and females.

I know that you think old army is going to hell, but all you are doing is hurting current bandsmen and women by saying they aren't disciplined and are almost non-regs.

Thanks for the help, but please stop being an expert on recruiting because all you are doing is hurting the cause. The band and the Corps is bigger than it has been in a long time. They don't want or need your help.

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now much better at marching that ever.

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I saw one of your classmates a few weeks ago and his son is a senior in the band. We talked about the 80's band vs. the current band.

One of the stories that he shared with me was that his son excitedly reported to his parents that they had successfully practiced the drill all week and had ZERO mistakes. The drill that he was bragging about was for the Kansas game in November. That would have been unacceptable for your class.

Now 84 you know that the marching today is nowhere as crisp as was in your and my day. And I know that we never had 3 BQ's do an individual drill in the 2nd drill of the season as we saw during the Idaho drill.

84 I will admit that times have changed since when you and I were in the band. I was a junior when women were admitted to the band. In fact, my outfit was the one all the female fish were put in so i know exactly how things changed to accomodate them. I'm proud of the fact that we did not lower our standards and the only fish who made it through we're the ones who met the standard. fish Abat is the only female that stayed in and I am proud to call her a BQ.

I will admit the FTAB sounds better now than when we were in. This is due largely to the fact that more women are in the band and with them comes more woodwinds. I will also say the bands marching is nowhere near what we put on the field. I'm not upset at the BQ's for the mistakes that were made in the Idaho drill. That was a difficult drill for so early in the season. I lay the blame for those mistakes on the director. However, when the tu drill looks sloppy with crooked ranks and off diagonals, I am upset at the BQs. The tu drill was on the verge of completely falling apart twice during the performance. The BQs along with the director share responsibility for that. Our standard was military bearing and marching perfection. That standard is not being met, my comment of on the way to becoming a non reg band. I'm not asking for spit shined combat boots and starched BDUs or anything else that takes away from academic study time. I asking for drills that are 8 o'clocks by mid season. We were able to do that with 1.5 hours of practice daily, because of our focus and military discipline. The current band should be able to do that as well if they have the focus and military discipline. Again the reason for my statement about becoming a non reg band.

Why is it acceptable to voice our displeasure with the coaching staff or the team for not performing up to expectations but we can't do the same with our band? At least I was in the band as opposed to being on the football team.

86, you were a senior when the first girls joined the band in the fall of 85

The band was crisper when we were in it, but the drills are much much more difficult. If you were in the band when I was a piss head, you would not be saying how great we were. The band now adays fixes every mistake they make, something we didn't do at the rice drill. A couple of messups a season is unacceptable...but it does not mean the Aggie band is not the best band in the nation still

87 you are correct. Fall 84 (my junior year) was when Cadet Goodrich died and when the twins from E-1 drove across the drill field. I stand by everything else I said though.

84 I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this matter. I don't see where the drills a any more difficult than what we did. If they are, I would rather they do less difficult drills correctly instead of more difficult ones with multiple mistakes.

Mistakes are unacceptable and the band is not exempt from criticism, but I would like to travel back in time to see how awesome some of you really were.

A sorority girl I knew was telling me how some of their alumni would return each fall and "evaluate" the sorority. They would even critique the girls on their appearance...tell them they needed to get a tan, whiten their teeth, lose weight. Some of you guys remind me of those women.

henry, all you have to do is go by the band hall and check out some of the halftime movies. Maybe we can convince them to convert them to DVD as a fund raiser. I imagine more than a few (me included) would pay to have video copies of my half times.

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I would like to travel back in time to see how awesome some of you really were.

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Here I am, the tall one, as a sophomore 1984 tcu drill.





[This message has been edited by ABATTBQ87 (edited 12/19/2011 3:02p).]

of all the things the Aggie Band former members need to argue about, this really isn't one of them...

but, by all means, get yourselves all worked up.

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Here I am, the tall one, as a sophomore 1984 tcu drill.

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If the interwebz existed back then, a class of '62 BQ would've posted about how bad the guy on the right looked during his counter march.

Annie, what should we complain about if it isn't how we think old army is dead? That's what dead BQs and CTs do.

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I don't see where the drills a any more difficult than what we did.

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oh come on...i just re-watched the Idaho drill and there were 11 individual assignments for the average fish. I still have a copy of all of my bugle rank drills on paper and i looked at them not too long ago! we didnt do anything nearly as difficult as that so early in the year or at any part of the year honestly. h*ll, bugle rank rarely had that many individual assignments that early in the year. They do fancier dills than we ever did and the majority of the time, they look d*mn good doing it.