ITEA Journal - Military Corner (Spring 2011)

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ITEA Journal

Spring 2011 By Steven Maxwell, Associate Editor

Military Corner

An Interview with Karl Hovey Steve Maxwell (SM): Everyone has his or her own path to joining a military band. You enlisted right out of high school and later finished your degrees. Can you tell us how you decided on this path?

MU3 Karl Hovery U. S. Navy Band

Karl Hovey (KH): After high school, I didn’t have much money to continue my education. I knew I wanted to study music, so I enrolled at North Texas State (what it was called back then) because it was close to home and had a great reputation as a music school. I had to work at the local McDonalds to try to make ends meet (and the free meals while I worked helped), but by the end of my first semester I was flat broke and had no way to pay for the spring semester. And this was at a time when full-time tuition for an in-state resident was less than $200 dollars! I must have known there were military bands, so I rushed off to the recruiter’s office. The Navy seemed most amenable of the services, but I had to act fast as the Vietnam-era G. I. Bill was set to expire at the end of 1976. I scored well on the ASVAB (Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery, I think) and they wanted me to enlist in the advanced electronics/nuclear field, even though I had barely changed a light bulb at that age. But the recruiter wouldn’t let me enlist as a musician until after I had passed an audition, so I took a leap of faith and enlisted—in the delayed-entry program—as an Operations Specialist. I learned there was a Navy band in Corpus Christi, so I arranged for an audition and was accepted as a musician: an MU in Navy-speak. Since my goal had been to make enough money to afford a university education, I returned to North Texas in the fall of 1982 at the conclusion of my first enlistment. G. I. Bill firmly in hand, I was able to concentrate on school without having to worry about money, and I finished up with two degrees, two tubas, and zero debt!

someone just graduating high school! Besides my reason (money), the military can offer a kid with some talent the opportunity to live the life of a full-time professional musician. The training and experience gained are absolutely invaluable: there’s nothing like a little military discipline to teach you the importance of being on time, wearing the right clothes, and preparing for a performance— all things essential to civilian musicians as well. One of the little quirks of being a Navy musician in those days was the doubling requirement. Woodwind doubling for clarinet or sax players was no big deal and is expected in most professional areas. Tuba players had to double on electric bass. That was actually pretty easy to pick up at the Armed Forces SOM: the true bass players had it much harder trying to double on tuba! Playing bass was a neat way to pretend to be a rock star, develop a better feel for jazz, and learn solid time-keeping. And a bass player can always find work: after going back to school I earned plenty of spending money playing in country, big band, and husband-and-wife lounge act bands. For some the military can be a most rewarding career in itself, while others can take the lessons learned and apply them to future careers in music outside the military. The services are also a great place to learn “life” skills, and military job security provides a comforting safety net for the difficult times everyone experiences as they make their way in the adult world. Besides the pay and benefits during active duty, all the services have some form of educational benefits including grants, tuition assistance, student loan repayment, and enlistment bonuses. (Each service has different benefit packages and they change frequently as the needs of the particular service change. A local recruiter will have complete information on all current benefits).

SM: Do you have any advice for musicians that are interested in joining the military and focusing on music right out of high school?

SM: After completing your degrees and achieving success as principle tuba with the Shreveport Symphony as well as teaching at Stephen F. Austin State University, what brought you back to a military career?

KH: I think being a military musician is a terrific choice for

KH: Well, as nice as the jobs in Shreveport and at SFA were,


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