Lyman Ward Military Academy

Sword Drill

The Sword Drill conducted their first performance in 1988. Since that time, with the exception of the several years at the beginning of this century the Sword Drill Team has performed in honor of the graduating class, and at the end of the precision drill form a Sword Arch for the Seniors and their escorts to pass under as a final tribute for their contribution to making LWMA the wonderful school that it is.

The Sword Drill is selected in February from those who sign up to become members. After a few sessions of preparation some who signed up decide that they prefer not to be members for one reason or another. It may be that the commitment of time and effort is too much for them, or they may be in other activities that do not permit the time for them to participate, or their academic efforts require all their extra time. At the end of the selection period there are 16 marching cadets, one drill team commander and 3 alternates. They will spend more than 100 hours to perfect a drill sequence that takes no more than 10-12 minutes to perform. Some practices are after Evening Study Hall, some during what would be their free time, some at 5:30 in the morning. All this is done to make their Sword Drill as close to perfection as possible. Some may say that it is not possible for teenagers from 14-17 years old to have the discipline or desire to commit to do what it takes to come even close to perfection, but that is not true and they will prove it to you, as has all the Sword Drill teams down through the years have done.

Many of the traditions and actions of the Sword Drill are secret and known only to the members of the team and their participation in them keeps their moral up during their long and arduous practice sessions. One of the traditions of the Sword Drill is that it is performed only once and the following year the seniors on the previous year's Sword Drill teach the new Sword Drill the various steps and movements.

To give you and idea as to what movements you will see and the meaning or purpose of it, I will point out some things to watch for. First, after the Sword Drill is introduced and the Commander request permission to take charge of the Drill Area, he will take his place in front of the team and sound off in the Sword Drill voice, COMMAND, after which the team members will command in unison, FORWARD MARCH. The team will step off in a high step slow half step, will split in half and come together again this time in slow step and drawing their swords. The purpose of this movement is to make their opening statement, that what you are about to see is special and we want you to pay attention. This is followed by Squads to the Rear and the Box and To The Winds Starburst, which is a high step slow half stem again doing sword manual as they bring the star back to the marching Sword Drill square. The team moves in a 180 degree turn with several changes in direction by the ranks until they are facing each other in marching and then halt in a Hesitation. They then move to the center of the drill floor where they form into the Moving Cross, symbolic of the St. Andrews Cross which is taken from the Academy Crest, and the flag of the State of Alabama the location of the Academy. Following the Moving Cross, the team will move into the Moving Circle, which is also taken from the Academy Crest and which is symbolic of the first twenty five cent donation given to purchase the land and build the Southern Industrial Institute, the predecessor of LWMA, in 1898. They return to the cross and then move into the Sword Drill line, the most difficult and demanding movement in the series. They will perform several sequential movements using their swords, and then move into the Turning Line. This is accomplished first by each squad moving in a 180 degree circle, followed by forming into two groups for two turning circles, and ending with the entire line moving in two half circles ending up as they started. This movement symbolizes the ever changing but never ending long gray line that has existed as LWMA since the 1950's. After the moving line the team will seamlessly move into two lines and using the Super slow step will move into the double line to form the sword arch for the seniors and their ladies. After the last senior has passed under the arch, the Sword Drill Team commander will move the team off the floor using a half step and a crossing movement. This will conclude their performance. At this time the Seniors and their ladies will have the first dance of the evening, and after then have danced alone for a few minutes, everyone will be asked to find a partner and join them in this traditional slow dance.