MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. -- For two weeks, the Marines of the Quantico Band exchanged their instruments for pistols, shotguns and handcuffs as they trained to augment the base security force.
“I joined the Marine Corps to be a musician and a rifleman, but ever since I’ve been in, all I’ve been doing is playing,” said tuba player Sgt. Kyle Woodworth, who, after four years in the Corps, transferred to Quantico from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., in November. “This gives me the opportunity to be a complete Marine.”
On Feb. 14, Woodworth and the other 47 members of the band were a day away from graduating from the police training as they fired pistols and shotguns during a practical weapons course at Range 14-D.
A base order issued at the end of last year established that the band and the Ceremonial Platoon would become Quantico’s first official Security Augmentation Force, making them responsible for supplementing the Provost Marshal’s Office when security levels are raised. The order brings Quantico in line with a Marine Corps order from August of 2011 that ordered every installation to begin planning and creating a Security Augmentation Force.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Robert Szabo, director and officer in charge of the band, pointed out that security is every Marine Corps band member’s secondary duty, and bands have often worked security during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“What a lot of people don’t understand is that we want to train. We went to boot camp, too,” Szabo said.
To qualify for military police duties, band members needed 80 hours of classroom and field training, not only with weapons but also in skills like the proper use of restraints, use of deadly force and vehicle searches, while getting first-hand experience of the effects of pepper spray.
“Security is more than just shooting — it’s a lot of deterrence and different situations than what [Marines] are normally put into,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Jeffery Fangman, the bandmaster. “Any training they get that makes them more proficient is good for them at the end of the day.”
As the band members ran the pistol course, moving from one simulated cover to the next while firing M9s at three targets, Szabo said he enjoyed seeing how much the Marines who were nervous on their first day firing a handgun had gained confidence during the training.
Clarinet player Cpl. Dayana Staples was among those who had never fired a pistol before the training, and she said this made the morning’s exercise “a little nerve-wracking.” But she added, “We’re just lucky we get to prepare for the security force. Out of all the Marines on base, they chose the band.”
“I think this is a skill set any Marine should learn,” said clarinet player Sgt. Steven Andrews. “A lot of my family is either law enforcement or military, and this just means more career paths for me to think about.”
Following the training, the Marines of the newly formed security augment force will stand duty at least once a month to keep their skills fresh.
— Writer: mdicicco@quanticosentryonline.com