MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. (Dec. 10) -- Tucked away in a remote corner of the base, a rousing, crystal clear melody drifts through the air- soft at first- then building to a crescendo. The tune is unmistakable to any Marine passing by: The Marine’s Hymn, being practiced by the Quantico Marine Band. The band’s universal language echoes in the distance.
In this holiday season alone, the Quantico Marine Band had scheduled 113 caroling events between Dec. 1 and today. Since the band began caroling this season, more than 4,000 people have been reached by their holiday-themed performances in venues aboard the installation and in the surrounding community.
“We’ve scheduled all of these events because we realized we could cover more area without over-demanding the unit,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Robert Szabo, officer-in-charge of the Quantico Marine Band, who has sent Marines to senior centers, hospitals, schools and municipalities in the community. “We take the Corps to a lot of people who can’t come to us.”
To cover a wider audience, the band, which is comprised of more than 65 Marines, is broken into smaller ensembles of instruments and dispatched to events in groups of as few as two Marines, based on the needs of the venue.
The Clubs at Quantico, for example, may enjoy a basoon duet, while the National Museum of the Marine Corps may be graced with the Party Band, a brass band with a trumpet, percussion instrument such as drums, an electric keyboard and a saxophone.
“It’s a demanding job,” said the band’s top officer. “[Our Marines] have to be smart, they have to be disciplined and they have to be accountable.”
People enlisting into the Marine Corps music program are screened with a musical audition. If accepted into the program, they attend three months of recruit training and one month of Marine Combat Training before going to Naval Base Norfolk for five more months of military occupational specialty training.
These men and women emerge from 10 months of training as musically skilled, cross rifle-bearing Marines, unlike most of the world renowned President’s Own.
“Marine Corps musician is the only MOS that you have to already be good at to join,” said Gunnery Sgt. Timothy Otis, the band’s enlisted conductor. “All other jobs will teach you your trade at school and then refine it with [on-the-job training] in the fleet.”
After almost a full year in training, a Marine musician is assigned to a unit and his craft is always improving with ample practice for numerous performances.
The band is at the front lines of telling the Corps’ story in the surrounding communities according to Master Gunnery Sgt. Jeff Fangman, staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the band,
“This was the best way we could get to tell the story of the Corps, and represent the base in the community,” Fangman said. “Part of telling the story is to live and breathe it every day.”
Despite the many moving parts involved in their performances, the band makes organization and execution look easy by being where they need to be, when they need to be there, in the uniform required and ready to play.
“Doing everything we do is difficult,” said Otis. “But it’s all well practiced.”
The band is unique, when compared to many units aboard Quantico, because they are sustained internally. Motor
transport, the administrative section, supply and even the public affairs office are all maintained by band Marines, taught by other band Marines. Anything within the unit that needs to be tended to is covered as a collateral duty.
Although Marine Corps musician is not primarily a combat MOS, the Marines who perform the duty must live up to the Corps’ standards wherever they are.
“Being a Marine naturally lends itself to competition,” said Fangman. “And nothing makes a Marine musician better than being a Marine first. We treat them like Marines and the end result is phenomenal musicians, but they are Marines first and foremost.”
As one of the oldest professional music ensembles in the Marine Corps, the Quantico Marine Band has had time to grow and refine the way it performs. The band has and will continue to play the songs which tell the story Marine Corps Base Quantico for years to come.
Correspondent: Paris.Capers@usmc.mil