Military mark time

Last updated
A contingent of Turkmen soldiers marching in mark time. Independence Day Parade - Flickr - Kerri-Jo (113).jpg
A contingent of Turkmen soldiers marching in mark time.

Marking time is a military step in which soldiers march in place, moving their legs as in marching, but without stepping forward. [1]

Military step

Military step or march is a regular, ordered and synchronized walking of military formations.

Marching formal style of walking

Marching refers to the organized, uniformed, steady walking forward in either rhythmic or route-step time; and, typically, it refers to overland movements on foot of military troops and units under field orders. It is a major part of military basic training in most countries and usually involves a system of drill commands. A soldier learning to march to drum cadences, martial music and shouted commands is considered an essential element of teaching military discipline.

The military drill command is "Mark Time!” to change from standing at attention to 'Marking Time' or to change from marching at 'Quick Time' to 'Marking Time'. The resulting action is to march in the same place, not to move in any direction. Also used during Color Guard maneuvers to make minor adjustments in a single file presentation of the colors.

The term can also be used to refer to doing a minor job or task while waiting for an opportunity to arise, thus the casual usage in slang as describing motion without progress – not getting anywhere. As with other military jargon it entered civilian use when a large portion of the population had military experience and understood the context.

Related Research Articles

Marching band company of instrumental musicians

A marching band is a group in which instrumental musicians perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, often of a military style, that includes an associated organization's colors, name or symbol. Most high school marching bands, and some college marching bands, are accompanied by a color guard, a group of performers who add a visual interpretation to the music through the use of props, most often flags, rifles, and sabres.

Drill tool for boring holes

A drill is a tool primarily used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a bit, either a drill or driver, depending on application, secured by a chuck. Some powered drills also include a hammer function.

Drill commands

Drill commands, commonly referred to by the United States Armed Forces as Drill and ceremony are generally used with a group that is marching, most often in military foot drill or marching band. Drill commands are usually heard in major events involving service personnel, reservists and veterans of a country's armed forces, and by extension, public security services and youth uniformed organizations.

Military parade

A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the late 19th century fought in formation. Massed parades may also hold a role for propaganda purposes, being used to exhibit the apparent military strength of one's nation.

Exhibition drill

Exhibition drill is a variant of drill that involves complex marching sequences which usually deviate from drill used in the course of ordinary parades. Teams performing exhibition drill are often affiliated with military units, but the scope of exhibition drill is not limited to military drill teams. Exhibition drill is often performed by Armed Forces Precision Drill Teams, the drill teams at service academies and ROTC and JROTC units, and civilian drill teams that perform at parades, drill meets, and half-time shows and other public venues.

Fightin Texas Aggie Band

The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band is the official marching band of Texas A&M University. Composed of over 400 men and women from the school's Corps of Cadets, it is the largest military marching band in the world. The band's complex straight-line marching maneuvers are performed exclusively to traditional marches.

Bugle call short tune used for communication

A bugle call is a short tune, originating as a military signal announcing scheduled and certain non-scheduled events on a military installation, battlefield, or ship. Historically, bugles, drums, and other loud musical instruments were used for clear communication in the noise and confusion of a battlefield. Naval bugle calls were also used to command the crew of many warships.

Foot drill

Foot drill is a part of the training regimen of organized military and paramilitary elements worldwide. "Foot drill" or "Drill" stems from time since antiquity when soldiers would march into battle, be expected to gather in a formation, and react to words of command from their commanders once the battle commenced. Much of the drill done today is either ceremonial, or implemented as a core part of training in the Armed Forces. Military discipline is enhanced by drill, as it requires instant obedience to commands and synchronized completion of said commands with the others in the unit.

Marking out or layout means the process of transferring a design or pattern to a workpiece, as the first step in the manufacturing process. It is performed in many industries or hobbies although in the repetition industries the machine's initial setup is designed to remove the need to mark out every individual

Butt joint technique in which two pieces of wood are joined

A butt joint is a technique in which two pieces of material are joined by simply placing their ends together without any special shaping. The name 'butt joint' comes from the way the material is joined together. The butt joint is the simplest joint to make since it merely involves cutting the wood to the appropriate length and butting them together. It is also the weakest because unless some form of reinforcement is used it relies upon glue alone to hold it together. Because the orientation of the wood usually presents only one end to long grain gluing surface, the resulting joint is inherently weak.

Stepping (African-American)

Stepping or step-dancing is a form of percussive dance in which the participant's entire body is used as an instrument to produce complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps, spoken word, and hand claps. Though stepping may be performed by an individual, it is generally performed by groups of three or more, often in arrangements that resemble military formations.

Glide step is a form of movement used by marching bands to minimize upper body movement, enabling musicians to play their instruments and march without air-stream interruptions. Standardizing the style of marching also serves to add to the visual effect of a marching band. Sometimes special shoes are worn with a curved heel that facilitates rolling the foot. Glide stepping is used by many high school marching bands, college marching bands, and by many Drum Corps. Glide stepping is sometimes also known as "roll stepping".

The Strategikon or Strategicon is a manual of war traditionally regarded as written in the late 6th century and usually attributed to the Byzantine Emperor Maurice. It is moreover a practical manual, "a rather modest elementary handbook" in the words of its introduction, "for those devoting themselves to generalship". This book gives a general guide, handbook, of the Byzantine military's strategies. In his introduction to his 1984 translation of the text, George T. Dennis noted "The Strategikon is written in a very straightforward and generally uncomplicated Greek."

A drilling rig is used to create a borehole or well in the earth's sub-surface, for example in order to extract natural resources such as gas or oil. During such drilling, data is acquired from the drilling rig sensors for a range of purposes such as: decision-support to monitor and manage the smooth operation of drilling; to make detailed records of the geologic formations penetrated by a borehole; to generate operations statistics and performance benchmarks such that improvements can be identified, and to provide well planners with accurate historical operations-performance data with which to perform statistical risk analysis for future well operations. The terms measurement while drilling (MWD), and logging while drilling (LWD) are not used consistently throughout the industry. Although these terms are related, within the context of this section, the term MWD refers to directional-drilling measurements, e.g., for decision support for the smooth operation of the drilling, while LWD refers to measurements concerning the geological formation made while drilling.

Mewata Armouries building in Alberta, Canada

Mewata Armoury is a Canadian Forces reserve armoury in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Three-volley salute shots from a rifle performed at military funerals and memorials

The three-volley salute is a ceremonial act performed at military funerals and sometimes also police funerals. The custom originates from the European dynastic wars, where the fighting ceased so the dead and wounded could be removed. Then, three shots were fired into the air to signal that the battle could resume.

Goose step

The goose step is a special marching step performed on formal military parades and other ceremonies. While marching in parade formation, troops swing their legs in unison off the ground while keeping each leg rigidly straight.

United States Marine Corps Recruit Training program of initial training for USMC recruits

United States Marine Corps Recruit Training is a 12-week program "including in & out-processing" of initial training that each recruit must successfully complete in order to serve in the United States Marine Corps.

References

  1. US Army Field Manual FM 22-5 DRILL AND CEREMONIES