1st Marine Division Band

The 1st Marine Division Band is a regional military band of the United States Marine Corps, reporting directly to the 1st Marine Division. It is stationed in Camp Pendleton, California. The band serves as the de facto USMC representative for the Western United States, performing at over 300 military and state functions, civic events, and military parades a year.[1][2]

1st Marine Division Band
The 1st Marine Division Band performimg at the Escondido Arts Center.
Active1940 – present
Branch United States Marine Corps
Typemilitary band
RolePublic duties
Size50 members
Part of 1st Marine Division
Garrison/HQCamp Pendleton, California
Nickname(s)1st MARDIV Band
MarchMarine Hymn (official hymn)
Semper Fidelis (official march)
Waltzing Matilda (divisional march)
Commanders
BandmasterGunnery Sergeant Victor Ney
Drum MajorGunnery Sergeant Robert Brooks
Notable
commanders
  • Chief Warrant Officer Mike Edmonson
  • CWO3 Edward Hayes

History

The 1st Marine Division Band was organized during World War II when the division was based in Australia to participate in the Pacific War. On the occasion of President George Washington's birthday in February 1943, the 1st MARDIV Band played Waltzing Matilda, an Australian bush ballad which would later be the official march of the division. The band would play this march again in April of that year during an ANZAC Day parade in Melbourne[3] and would continue to play it exclusively during the division's deployment to Australia. In recent years, all 50 members of the band have taken up arms to serve on the battlefield, especially during the Gulf War, the Iraq War and the Iraq conflict (2003–present).[4] During the lattermost conflict, the band was attached to Headquarters Company, 5th Marine Regiment at Camp Fallujah, Iraq from February 2006–January 2007.[5] During this deployment, the band served as a security platoon.[6][7] In 2008, the band was awarded the "Colonel George S. Howard Citation of Musical Excellence for Military Concert Bands" by the John Philip Sousa Foundation.[8] In 2006, the band took part in the State funeral of President Gerald Ford and has annually taken part in the Rose Parade as part of the USMC West Coast Composite Band.[9]

Ensembles

The following ensembles are subordinated to the 1st MARDIV Band:

  • CWO3 Edward Hayes, director of the 1st Marine Division Band, conducting during a concert at the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo.
  • Members of the band with the Musique des Troupes de Marine in 2015.

Sources
  1. Inc, MarineParents com. "1st Marine Division Band (1st MARDIV Band) on MarineParents.com". MarineParents.com®.
  2. Sorensen, Emily. "1st Marine Division Band to perform free concerts in Escondido". mcall.com.
  3. Rill, James C. (6 May 2019). "A Narrative History of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines During the Early History and Deployment of the 1st Marine Division, 1940-43". Merriam Press – via Google Books.
  4. "Back From Iraq, Marine Band Will Lead Big Parade". 24 October 2003 – via LA Times.
  5. Piehler, G. Kurt (24 July 2013). "Encyclopedia of Military Science". SAGE Publications – via Google Books.
  6. "1st Marine Division > Units > 1ST DIV BAND". www.1stmardiv.marines.mil.
  7. "NPR: Analysis: 1st Marine Division Band Prepares for Battle in the Kuwaiti Desert". www.npr.org.
  8. "The 1st Marine Division Band plays Arcadia August 7". 31 July 2014.
  9. "Renowned 1st Marine Division Band to perform during Vietnam Veterans Recognition Ceremony". 13 September 2014.
  10. "This Marine band doesn't march … it rocks". Orange County Register. 9 September 2010.
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