Colorado Seen 06/2011
DRILL, BABY, DRILL
Also n DRAGONBOATS
From the Editor August. It’s been just a year since I got a wild hair and converted ColoradoSeen from a site with picture-only slide shows to a true magazine format that allows for a more extensive interplay between pictures, text, graphics and headlines. The past 12 months have been quite a ride. I’ve frozen my lenses photographing ice racing in Georgetown, and sweltered in the summer sun photographing dragonboat races on Denver’s Sloan’s Lake (see page 2). I’ve had the chance to finally pursue a number of stories that have been percolating around in my mind for years, from following the 1806-7 path of Zeb Pike through Colorado (4/2011), to exploring Rocky Mountain National Park in winter, (2/2011) to following the cadets in the JROTC program at Denver’s Montbello High School through the year. I’m looking forward to bringing you lots more in the next 12 months — including more of Colorado’s small rural libraries, a project that some of you have missed. See you in September!
Put Colorado on your wall
Colorado Seen An internet image magazine Editor & Publisher Andrew Piper We welcome comments and letters. Submit them to: coloradoseen@comcast.net To submit work or story ideas for consideration, send an e-mail to: coloradoseen@comcast.net If you would like to advertise in ColoradoSeen, send an e-mail to coloradoseen@comcast.net for information on rates and interactive links. Copyright © 2011 ColoradoSeen
On the cover: Spin, salute, shout. Montbello High School JROTC Rifle drill team captain Mo Jallow practices presenting his squad for competition. “Sir! Request permission to use this exhibition space, Sir!”
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To the beat of a drum, a racing dragonboat proceeds to the starting line on Denver’s Sloan’s Lake.
RACing with
Dragons
Denver’s skyline hovers in the distance as a pair of dragonboats race for the flags.
Traditional paper parasols protect festivalgoers from Denver’s July sun — even when reading the race results. STORY & Photos by Andy Piper
D
ragonboat racing is essentially a drag(on) race. Two boats, 250 meters (820 feet) of water, twenty paddlers, a drummer to keep time, a steersman — and a straight line between start and finish. Racing long canoes, usually representing neighboring villages,
has been a tradition around the Pacific Rim for over 2000 years. The dragon decoration is particular to Chinese culture, specifically the region of the Pearl River in the south, but has spread with the Chinese diaspora to many other parts of Asia. And is tied to celebrations of the summer solstice. Denver’s Dragonboat Festival, held each summer on
n Click here to see a multimedia show of pictures from Dragonboat Festivals past. 4
Children watch from the lakeshore as dragonboats make their way to the starting line. 6
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Dancers from the Christina Yeh Dance Studio perform a fan ribbon dance.
Thai Pepper chef Cha Hasadinratana rings a bell to celebrate every soul brave enough to order the delicacy.
Sloan’s Lake west of the Broncos’ football stadium, began in 2000 with 16 teams, and has grown into a general celebration of Asian cultures, with not only 50 teams in this year’s races, but also music, dance and martial arts performances from Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand. The racing crews today usually represent “villages” of friends or corporate coworkers.
T
he Festival also incorporates Taste of Asia, a food court featuring Chinese, Thai and other flavors from the Far East. The longest line is always for the “monkeyballs” prepared by Thai Pepper — a sort of globular fried egg roll with sweetspicy sauce. Chef Cha Hasadinratana celebrates every brave order by ringing a bell to a cry of ‘Hohhh, MonkeyBALLS!’ n 11
Waves stirred up by a race reflect a dragonboat crew as it turns towards shore. n
High School Soldiers: Fifth in a series
DRILL, BABY, DRILL Before classes, after school, Montbello’s JROTC cadets take the Manual of Arms seriously — and even improve upon it.
JROTC Cadet Major Mo Jallow, center, commands the Montbello High Exhibition Rifle squad through their routines in a school parking lot.
STORY & Photos by Andy Piper
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ilitary drill began to be codified in the 18th century, when firearms replaced pikes as the weapon of the foot soldier. The power of inaccurate muskets lay in massed fire, with soldiers shooting simultaneously from a tight formation. To be effective (and to avoid blowing off fellow soldiers’ heads or spiking them with bayonets) the slow loading process, and the handling of the arms, required precise timing and orderly movement. Thus was born the Manual of Arms, which covered not only the operation of the weapons, but also handling them in close order and on the march. The constant practice of these techniques became 16
‘Column, HALT!’ A Montbello JROTC company practices regulation marching drill on the football field.
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Above, Sgt. First Class Tommie Harden, right, coaches Montbello’s exhibition rifle team. At left, cadet Luis Ortiz practices spinning his rifle.
known as “drill” and has become the feature that distinguishes military arms handling from, say, the individual hunter in the field. Drill practice and drill competitions are the most military of the activities that make up the JROTC education of cadets — and the battalion at Montbello High School is no
R
exception.
egulation Drill covers the basic skills and commands, the familiar (and not so familiar) orders that govern marching and weapons handling: “Shoulder, ARMS”; “Present, ARMS”; “By the right
flank, MARCH”; “Column, half right, MARCH”. Every Montbello cadet is expected to master these basics. And even deliver the commands themselves. While Montbello’s military instructors coach drill sessions, it is cadet officers and noncoms who generally give the orders. 19
Team commander Mo Jallow tapes his dummy exhibition rifle. At right a cadet practices rifle maneuvers solo in the main JROTC classroom.
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‘Left, left, left, RIGHT left’. Four Montbello cadets stay overtime to practice their regulation marching drill. 23
Montbello’s Honor Platoon practices Exhibition Drill without Arms, combining regulation drill maneuvers with razzledazzle dance moves.
Cadet Lt. Colonel Autumn Bachmann is the commander and choreographer for Montbello’s Honor Platoon.
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ut the cream of the cadets also take part in more complex forms of drill: Exhibition Drill With (and Without) Arms. Exhibition drills are a riff on the basics, with demonstrations of extraordinary weapons handling or marching routines. In some ways, exhibition drill with arms runs counter to everything the original Manuals of Arms sought to promote. It is precise and orderly — but these spinning rifles, often tossed from soldier to soldier, would no doubt have made 18thcentury generals cringe. They are fun, however.
A
s the name implies, Exhibition Drill Without Arms even does away with the weapons altogether. As developed by 27
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‘Drop and give me ten!’ A misstep during practice earns a Montbello Honor Platoon cadet a set of pushups under the eyes of her teammates.
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Honor Platoon coach Command Sgt. Major Patrick Roddy gives the team last words of encouragement before a citywide JROTC competition at Manual High.
Step, stomp, salute. The Montbello Honor Guard performs its routine before a crowd at Denver’s Manual High School. Team commander Autumn Bachmann stands front and center, at right.
Montbello’s Honor Platoon, close order drill becomes a stylized dance routine: “Stomp” done with military precision and uniforms. Cadet Lt. Colonel (and senior class member) Autumn Bachmann commanded the unit in the 2010-11 school year, and choreographed the steps, salutes and marching cadences. Bachmann enters the U.S. Army this fall. 32
B
achmann drove herself, and her cadets, hard. Mistakes in the routine are chastised with pushups. Preparing for a spring citywide competition among Denver’s JROTC battalions, the platoon practised every morning for an hour before classes. Bachmann
and her team had ambitions to win the competition, and a third place finish that would have pleased a lesser commanders brought only tears of frustration. Platoon coach Command Sgt. Major Patrick Roddy tried to give the team a little perspective. “Look down the line. there are schools that are taking home no trophy at all. You did good. You did good!” n
A trophy — and tears. Honor Guard commander Bachmann, facing camera, gets a consoling hug after her team earns only third place in the competition. n