Lesson Overview
Lesson 01 explained why the Army drills. This lesson names what drill is made of and teaches each part in detail. Before a soldier can march, turn as a body, or take part in a parade, they must master the foundations: the squad as the unit of instruction, the standard of precision by which every movement is judged, the word of command, the basic positions and movements at the halt, and the reasons precision and timing are treated so seriously. Everything in the later lessons is built from these.
The movements themselves are physical skills, mastered on the square, by the body, under the eye of a drill instructor, and certified in person. What follows gives the names, purposes, commands, body positions, and standard, so that when you reach the square you already understand what you are being asked to build and recognise each command and stage when you hear it.
By the end you will be able to name the standard by which drill is judged, explain the two parts of a word of command and how commands are delivered, describe in detail the position of attention and the stand at ease and stand easy with their words of command and body positions, describe how a squad gets on parade and dresses, describe the right turn, left turn, and about turn at the halt by numbers with their commands and count, and say why precision and timing matter and why drill is first taught by numbers.
Key Terms
- Squad: the basic body of soldiers formed up for drill instruction, in which the recruit first learns to move as part of a group.
- Word of command: the spoken order that directs a drill movement, given in two parts, the cautionary and the executive.
- Cautionary command: the first part, which warns that a movement is coming and names who is to carry it out.
- Executive command: the second part, the sharp word on which the movement is made.
- Position of attention: the position of stillness, alertness, and readiness from which most drill begins and to which it returns.
- Stand at ease: a position of controlled rest taken from attention, the left foot carried out to about shoulder width and the hands joined behind the back, the soldier steady and silent in the ranks.
- Stand easy: a further, easier degree of rest allowed from the stand at ease, in which the body may relax a little while the feet stay in place.
- Dressing: taking up and holding an exact line and interval on the soldiers beside you, so the body is straight and evenly spaced.
- Covering: keeping yourself directly behind the soldier in front, so the files, running front to rear, are straight.
- Interval: the measured gap between soldiers side by side in a rank, taken up and held by dressing.
- By numbers: a method of teaching a movement in separate counted stages before it is run together as one.
- Pivot: the point on the foot, the heel or the ball, about which a soldier turns; a turn at the halt is made on two pivots at once.
The squad and the standard
Drill begins in the squad, the basic body of soldiers formed up together under an instructor. This is where a recruit first stops being an individual and becomes part of a body, and almost everything in foot drill is learned there before it is ever seen on a parade. In the squad, your stillness, your timing, and your line are no longer your own concern alone; they belong to the whole.
From the first day, the squad is taught to one demanding standard: precision, exactness, and uniformity. Every soldier stands the same way, moves at the same instant, and holds the same line, so the squad acts as one body rather than a row of separate people. A movement is judged not by whether it was roughly done but by whether it was done exactly, together, and to the standard, every time. A standard is a required minimum, met consistently and not when it happens to be convenient. On the square that standard is visible to the eye in an instant. Sloppiness cannot hide in a squad, and neither can excellence.
The word of command
Drill moves to the human voice. The instrument that sets every movement going is the word of command, and learning to hear it, wait for it, and act on it exactly is half of foot drill. A word of command is given in two parts, and the difference between them is the first thing a soldier must understand.
The first part is the cautionary command. It warns that a movement is about to be made and names who is to carry it out, for example "Squad" or "Squad, will move to the right in threes". It announces the movement rather than orders it, and gives every soldier the same moment to make ready, in mind and body, so all are poised to act together.
The second part is the executive command, the sharp, short word on which the movement is actually made, for example "Turn" or "March". The whole squad moves on that word, on the same instant, as one. Between the cautionary and the executive there is a deliberate pause. It is not a hesitation; it is built into the command on purpose, so every soldier has the same reaction time and the body moves together rather than raggedly. A soldier who moves on the cautionary, anticipating the order, is as much in the wrong as one who moves late, because either fault breaks the unity drill exists to build.
Commands are delivered to be understood through wind, distance, and the noise of a parade: clear, brief, and unmistakable, with one meaning only, projected with a firm command voice rather than shouted, and the executive word given sharply so the instant of movement is in no doubt. The command voice, like the movements, is built on the square. Here it is enough to know that a command has two parts, that the pause between them matters, and that the soldier acts on the executive word and not before. In the figures and sequences that follow, the cautionary command is written first and the executive in capitals, so "Squad, atten - TION" means the warning "Squad, atten" followed, after the pause, by the sharp executive "TION" on which the movement is made.
The position of attention
The position of attention is the foundation of all drill. It is a position of complete stillness: the soldier stands straight and balanced, weight evenly set, eyes to the front, with no movement, no fidgeting, and no looking about. It is more than a posture; it is the visible form of a soldier's readiness, alert and controlled, prepared to act on the next command without any transition before they move. To stand at attention well, still when every itch says move, is the first basic act of self-command in drill.
Because everything is built upon it, the position is taught in exact detail, from the feet upward, and held until it is natural. The word of command to take it up is "Squad, atten - TION"; from the stand at ease, the soldier comes to attention on the executive word in a single sharp movement, described below. The position itself, head to foot, is this:
THE POSITION OF ATTENTION (checklist, foot to head)
[ ] Heels together and in line, touching.
[ ] Feet turned out to an angle of about 30 degrees,
evenly, so the stance is balanced.
[ ] Legs straight, but not braced rigid at the knee.
[ ] Body erect and balanced, the weight carried a little
forward over the balls of the feet, not on the heels.
[ ] Hips level and square to the front.
[ ] Shoulders down and back, level, not hunched or strained up.
[ ] Arms straight, hanging naturally at the sides.
[ ] Hands lightly closed, NOT clenched; the back of the hand
to the side, thumbs to the front.
[ ] Thumbs placed just behind the seam of the trousers,
in line with each other.
[ ] Neck held into the back of the collar.
[ ] Head up, the chin in and slightly drawn back so the head
is level, not tilted up or dropped.
[ ] Eyes to the front, looking straight ahead, open and STILL.
[ ] The whole MOTIONLESS, steady, and silent.
angle of the feet, seen from above:
\ /
\ /
\_____/ about 30 degrees,
heels heels together
together
Each point has a reason. The heels together and in line give the body a single fixed base, so a rank of soldiers stands on one line, and the feet turned out to about thirty degrees spread that base for balance: turned out too far the stance is forced and the knees roll, too little and the soldier is unsteady. The legs straight and the body erect stack the soldier upright with the least effort, and the weight carried slightly forward over the balls of the feet keeps the soldier poised to move on the instant rather than rocked back on the heels. The shoulders down and back open the chest and set the bearing; soldiers tire and creep them up, and the instructor will push them down again. The arms straight with the hands closed and thumbs to the front, behind the seam of the trousers fix the arms so they do not stray or swing, and give the rank a uniform line down each side. The neck into the collar, the head up, the chin in, and the eyes to the front and still complete the carriage and hold the gaze steady: an eye that wanders breaks the stillness at once and is the fault most quickly seen. The position is then held motionless, the hardest thing a recruit does on the first morning, because it asks the body to be still and the will to keep it so.
To call a body to attention is to call it to readiness: to gather it from rest, fix its stillness, and bring it to the poised, alert state from which it can receive the next command at once. That is why the position is the foundation. Every movement in this course begins from it or returns to it, and a movement begun from a slack, ill-set position is half lost before it starts.
Stand at ease and stand easy
A body cannot stand rigidly at attention for long without strain, so drill provides two degrees of rest that keep the body in its place and under discipline while easing it. Both are taken and left on command, and the difference between them is one of degree and of readiness.
Standing at ease is a position of controlled rest taken on command from attention. The word of command is "Squad, stand at - EASE". On the executive word the soldier moves in one sharp action: the left foot is carried smartly out to about shoulder width so the feet are apart and the weight evenly divided, and at the same time the arms are brought behind the back, the right hand placed into the left in the small of the back (the back of the right hand resting in the palm of the left, fingers and thumbs straight and together), the head and eyes still to the front. The soldier is now settled and steadier, but remains in their place in the ranks, silent, and under discipline. It is rest within order, not relaxation out of it: the body stays square, the gaze stays forward, and the soldier does not move, talk, or look about.
STAND AT EASE (what changes from attention)
attention stand at ease
--------- -------------
heels together --> left foot carried out to about shoulder width
arms at the sides --> hands joined behind the back, right into left
weight forward --> weight divided evenly between the feet
head up, eyes front --> UNCHANGED: head up, eyes front, still, silent
feet at attention feet at the stand at ease
\ / \ /
\ / \ /
heels about shoulder width apart
together
Standing easy is a further, easier degree of rest allowed from the stand at ease. It is given by the single word "Stand - EASY" (there is no need to name the squad again, as the body is already at the stand at ease). On the command the soldier may relax the body a little: the shoulders and head may ease, the strict rigidity of carriage is let go, and small, quiet adjustments may be made. What does not change is the feet, which stay where they were placed, and the place in the ranks, which is kept. The hands stay joined behind the back unless the soldier is told otherwise.
At ease, the soldier is settled but still formally in the ranks and ready to be called up; easy permits a little more relaxation, but the soldier remains in position, silent, and ready to be brought back to attention at once. Neither is a release from discipline; both are forms of waiting under control, and the exact carriage of each is set in regulation and shown on the square.
Coming to attention from rest. Whether at the stand easy or the stand at ease, the body is brought back up the same way. If the squad is at the stand easy, it is first brought to the stand at ease by the cautionary "Squad", on which every soldier resumes the alert stand-at-ease carriage (shoulders set, head up, body still) without moving the feet. From the stand at ease it is then called to attention by "Squad, atten - TION": on the executive word the soldier cuts the left foot back in to the right with a single sharp movement so the heels come together in the position of attention, and at the same time the arms are brought down to the sides into the closed-hand, thumbs-to-the-front position. The whole squad does this on the one word, in one movement, and is still again. A clean change from ease to attention, sharp and together, is one of the first things an instructor builds and tests, because it is made many times in any period of drill.
The motionless position as the basis of all drill
A recruit may at first think standing still the least of what drill asks. It is in fact the foundation. Every turn, salute, and march begins from the position of attention and ends in it, so a soldier who cannot hold that position steadily cannot perform cleanly anything built upon it: a turn begun from a slack body finishes crooked, a salute thrown from a fidgeting stance is ragged. The motionless position is also where the discipline of drill is first proved on the body. To stand still when the will says move, and to keep the position through discomfort, is the first act of self-command on the square, and it is exactly the control that every later movement depends upon. The instructor therefore spends real time on stillness alone, before any movement, because the steady, motionless position is the ground on which the whole of drill is built.
Getting on parade: fall in, dressing, and covering
A body must not only stand correctly; it must form up correctly, stand in exact relation to one another, and be able to change its facing and to stop, all without losing its order. The first of these is getting on parade.
A squad gets on parade by being formed up, brought together from a fallen-out or loose state into ranks and files in a known place. The word that calls a body together onto its parade ground is "Fall in", on which the soldiers take up their positions in the ranks, ordinarily forming on a named soldier or marker placed to fix the line and the right of the body. To fall in is to come to one's place in the ranks, take up the position of attention, and become part of the formed body. A body once fallen in is then made exact by dressing.
Dressing is taking up and holding an exact line and interval on the soldiers beside you, so the rank is straight and the spacing even; to dress is to judge your position by the soldier on your right, or to the side ordered, and adjust until the line is true. The order to dress a rank is given as "Right - DRESS" (or "Left dress"): on the command each soldier, except the right-hand soldier who stands fast as the marker, takes up the correct interval from the soldier on the named side and aligns the rank by looking toward that side to judge the line, making small sharp adjustments until the rank is straight and evenly spaced, then holding it. On the order "Eyes - FRONT" the heads come back to the front together and the dressing is held. The exact interval, and how the adjustment is stepped out, are taught and corrected on the square; as knowledge, what matters is that dressing turns a loose row into a straight rank at a true and even spacing.
Covering is the same discipline in depth, keeping yourself directly behind the soldier in front so the files, running front to rear, are straight as well. A body that is both dressed (its ranks straight across) and covered (its files straight from front to rear) is square and true in both directions. This is not mere tidiness: the Manual notes that correct spacing is what later keeps weapons clear and movement safe when the body marches, wheels, or changes formation, so the exactness learned standing still is the exactness that prevents collision on the move. The interval taken up at the halt is the interval carried into the march; a rank that forms badly cannot move well.
The turns at the halt, by numbers
A formed body must be able to change its facing without losing its order. This is done by the turns at the halt: the right turn, the left turn, and the about turn. In a right or left turn the soldier turns a quarter of a circle, ninety degrees, to that side; in an about turn, completely to the rear, through one hundred and eighty degrees. Each is made sharply, on the executive command, the whole squad turning together and ending once more at attention, still and facing the new front, so a formed body can face wherever it is required, exactly and as one.
A turn at the halt is made on two pivots at once: the soldier turns on the heel of one foot and the ball of the other, the two acting together to swing the body cleanly through the angle without shuffling or stepping round. The turn is taught by numbers, broken into two counted stages, before it is run together as one movement.
The right turn. The word of command is "Squad, right - TURN". Taught by numbers, it is made in two movements on the count "one, two":
THE RIGHT TURN, BY NUMBERS ("Squad, right - TURN")
On "TURN" (count ONE): keeping the body erect, the arms still at
the sides, and the weight slightly forward, turn 90 degrees to the
RIGHT on the HEEL of the RIGHT foot and the BALL of the LEFT foot.
The body swings round together to face the new front. The rear
(left) foot is now behind and the soldier is balanced on the two
pivots, facing the new direction.
On count TWO: cut the rear (LEFT) foot in smartly, bringing the
heels together into the position of attention, facing the new
front. The squad is still again.
feet before (facing front) after the turn (facing right)
L R cut L in --> L R
\ / pivot 90 deg \ /
heels on R heel, heels together,
together L ball new front to the RIGHT
Pivots: RIGHT turn -> heel of the RIGHT foot, ball of the LEFT.
When the movement is run together, the two counts become one continuous action: the body turns and the rear foot is cut in as a single sharp movement, ending square and still at attention on the new front. The arms stay still at the sides throughout; they do not swing out to help the turn.
The left turn. The word of command is "Squad, left - TURN". It is the mirror of the right turn. On the executive word the soldier turns ninety degrees to the left on the heel of the left foot and the ball of the right foot (count one), then cuts the rear (right) foot in smartly to come to attention facing the new front (count two). Everything else, the erect body, the still arms, the sharpness, is the same; only the direction and the pivot feet are reversed.
The about turn. The word of command is "Squad, about - TURN". The about turn carries the body right round through one hundred and eighty degrees to face the rear, and it too is taught by numbers:
THE ABOUT TURN, BY NUMBERS ("Squad, about - TURN")
On "TURN" (count ONE): turn 180 degrees to the RIGHT, pivoting on
the HEEL of the RIGHT foot and the BALL of the LEFT foot, swinging
the body right round to face the rear. The body stays erect, the
arms still at the sides.
On count TWO: cut the rear (LEFT) foot in smartly to bring the
heels together at attention, now facing completely to the rear.
start: facing FRONT end: facing the REAR
^ front front ^
| |
[ soldier ] -- turn 180 deg --> [ soldier ]
| |
v rear rear v
The about turn is always made to the RIGHT (heel of the right,
ball of the left), through a half circle, then the rear foot cut in.
In every case the standard is the same: the turn is made sharply, together, and held. Sharply, so the movement is crisp and decisive on the word and not eased round; together, so the whole squad turns on the one instant and ends as one; and held, so the soldier finishes square, still, and at attention on the new front, and does not relax, sway, or correct the feet afterward. A turn that is sharp but not together, or together but slovenly, or clean but immediately fidgeted, has missed the standard. How each turn is physically performed, the exact action of the feet, the carriage of the body, the cut of the rear foot, is taught and corrected on the square until it is exact; the knowledge to carry there is what each turn is, the command that governs it, and the count on which it is built.
The halt, in brief
The halt is the movement by which a marching body is brought to an immediate and uniform stop, every soldier stopping on the same pace and coming to attention together rather than straggling. Halting belongs with the marching of Lesson 03, but it begins here, in the same principle as the turns: an exact, collective response to a single word, ending in the position of attention. A body that has learned to come to attention cleanly and to turn sharply and together has the foundation it needs to be stopped, on the move, into the same still and square position. The detail of the halt, the pace on which it is taken and the action of the feet, is built in Lesson 03.
Why precision and timing matter, and learning by numbers
It is fair to ask why a turn must be exact, or why a half-second of anticipation is treated as a fault. The precision is not for its own sake; it is the visible proof that a body of soldiers can give an exact, collective response to a single command, at once and together, which is the discipline an army depends upon when the order matters and there is no time to deliberate. Timing matters for the same reason: the value of drill is in the togetherness, and togetherness is destroyed the moment soldiers move on their own beat rather than the common one. An exact movement made raggedly is no longer drill; it is a crowd doing roughly the same thing.
Because the standard is exactness, a movement is usually built before it is run together. Instruction is often given by numbers: the movement is broken into separate counted stages, and each stage is learned and corrected on its own count before the parts are joined into one continuous action. A right turn made first as two distinct movements on "one, two" lets the instructor check the pivot and the cut of the rear foot each on its own before the soldier is asked to do both as a single sharp action. This is the Manual's own method: define the standard, rehearse it slowly until it can be demonstrated on demand, and only then add speed. Learning by numbers is not a sign that a movement is hard or a soldier slow; it is how an exact, collective action is built reliably into the body, so that when the count is taken away the movement remains correct under speed, fatigue, and the eyes of a parade.
In Practice: The First Morning on the Square
A squad of recruits stands on the square for the first time, formed up by their drill instructor on a marker placed to fix the right of the line. He does not start them marching. He has them stand at attention, and walks the rank correcting each one against the position foot to head: a pair of heels not quite together, feet turned out too far, a shoulder crept up, a hand clenched instead of lightly closed, a chin lifted, a pair of eyes that have drifted, a soldier shifting their weight onto the heels. He brings them to the stand at ease, the left foot carried out to shoulder width and the hands joined behind the back, then to the stand easy, then up through "Squad" to the stand at ease and back to attention with the foot cut in on the word, again and again, until the change is sharp and together. He dresses the rank, "Right dress", then "Eyes front", until the line is straight and the interval even. Only then does he teach the right turn, by numbers, calling each stage on its count so the squad makes the movement in slow, separate parts, the pivot on the right heel and the left ball, then the cut of the rear foot, correcting the line until every soldier turns alike. One recruit, impatient, turns a fraction early on the executive word; the instructor stops the whole squad and has them do it again, not to single him out but because a turn made a fraction early by one is a turn no longer made as one. By the end of the morning the squad has not marched a step, yet it has begun to move like a body and not a crowd, because it has built the foundations exactly, in order, before building anything upon them.
Check Your Understanding
- A word of command has two parts. Name them, say what each does, and explain why there is a deliberate pause between them. In the command "Squad, right - TURN", which part is which?
- Describe the position of attention from the feet upward, naming at least six points of the body and what each contributes. Then explain what changes when the squad is given "Stand at ease", and why even the stand easy is described as a form of waiting under control rather than a release from discipline.
- A right turn at the halt is taught by numbers in two movements. Describe what happens on each count, naming the two pivots, and say what the standard "sharp, together, and held" requires. Why is the turn taught by numbers before it is run together as one?
Reflection (write a short paragraph): This lesson argues that the precision of drill is the visible proof of a body's ability to respond to a single command exactly and together, and that even standing motionless is an act of self-command. Think about why a drill instructor would stop an entire squad because one soldier moved a fraction early on the turn, rather than letting it pass. What does insisting on that exactness teach the squad about the standard it is held to, and how might that connect to the discipline a soldier needs off the square?
Summary
- Foot drill begins in the squad and is held to a single standard: precision, exactness, and uniformity, met consistently and not occasionally, so the squad acts as one body.
- The word of command has two parts: the cautionary, which warns and names who is to act, and the executive, the sharp word on which the movement is made; the deliberate pause between them gives every soldier the same reaction time, and a soldier acts on the executive and not before.
- The position of attention is the foundation of all drill: heels together and turned out to about thirty degrees, legs straight, body erect with the weight slightly forward, shoulders down and back, arms straight with hands lightly closed and thumbs to the front behind the trouser seam, neck into the collar, head up, eyes to the front and still, the whole motionless. It is taken up on "Squad, atten - TION".
- The stand at ease ("Squad, stand at - EASE") carries the left foot out to about shoulder width with the hands joined behind the back, the soldier steady and silent; the stand easy ("Stand - EASY") allows a little more relaxation while the feet stay in place. Both are rest within order, not releases from discipline, and the body is brought back up through "Squad" to "Squad, atten - TION", cutting the foot in on the word.
- A body gets on parade by falling in on a marker and is made exact by dressing ("Right - DRESS", then "Eyes - FRONT") to take up a straight line and even interval, and by covering to keep the files straight; the spacing held at the halt is the spacing carried into the march.
- The turns at the halt are made on two pivots, the heel of one foot and the ball of the other, through ninety degrees for the right turn ("Squad, right - TURN") and left turn ("Squad, left - TURN") and one hundred and eighty degrees for the about turn ("Squad, about - TURN"), the rear foot cut in to come to attention on the new front; each is taught by numbers on "one, two" and held to the standard sharp, together, and held.
- Precision and timing matter because they are the visible proof of exact collective obedience; movements are first taught by numbers, built in counted stages before being run together, and the physical execution of every position and movement is mastered on the square under a drill instructor and certified in person. Lesson 03 carries these foundations into marching and the turns on the march, and Lesson 04 into the compliments and the salute.
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