Photo By Staff Sgt. Adeline Witherspoon | Washington Army National Guard Soldiers with the 133rd Army Band, 96th Troop Command,...... read more read more
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Standing in the empty auditorium at Yelm High School, Chief Warrant Officer Four Scott Pierson reflects on his two worlds coming together. The leader of the 133rd Army National Guard Band for the past 17 years and band director and teacher at Yelm High School admits this could be one of the only times this happens too.
“I love playing in this auditorium, and for our upcoming evaluation from National Guard Bureau I told them we are playing here,” Pierson said. “It is my swan song evaluation, so I decided it needed to be here.”
After 17 years in command of the 133rd Band, Pierson knows that the time is coming to finally move on. Not because anyone is pushing him out, but he is ready to see others move up the ranks.
“I feel I am the only one who is getting promoted because no one is blocking me,” said Pierson. “When I came here we were 60 percent strength, and now we are excess strength and no one wants to leave. So it’s time to watch these amazing musicians get promoted and take over this wonderful place.”
The last few years, it was the leadership of Pierson and his senior Non-Commissioned Officer, 1st Sgt. Richard Little, that kept the professional musicians of the 133rd motivated to continue to serve. When the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled events, shut down concert venues and brought the entertainment world to a halt, the members had to refocus and shift to working numerous state and federal missions.
“We not only had members working in food banks and helping with COVID mapping missions, we also had them standing on the front lines in Seattle during civil unrest and deployed to D.C. to protect our nation’s capital,” said Little. “I will always say our members do more with a musical instrument in their hands than a weapon.”
Little took over just prior to the pandemic and watched as the number of events the band supported in a year went from nearly 100 down to a handful, including just one public performance in Leavenworth for July 4, 2020.
“It was the weirdest thing, we had the crowd very socially distanced, we could only have five on stage, no crowd interaction, everyone in masks,” said Little. “We feed off the crowd and it helps us play even better and with more energy.”
As vaccines became available, masks came off and venues reopened, the 133rd started to make its way back out again for more shows. This summer the band returned to traveling across to different cities, bringing their unique energy, positive message and love of the National Guard to audiences again.
“The tour this year has been great,” Little said. “It was great to get back out and get with the crowd again. We usually start the show with the crowd not sure what to expect and by the end they don’t want us to stop and always ask for us to come back next year.”
Their energy and playing up the crowd always helps get the kids jumping around and adults singing, but Little admits it’s the work of the recruiters that often join them that gets over-looked.
“We are always telling the story of the Guard, we are there to support the mission of that local recruiter who is working the crowd and talking with people about the National Guard and what we in the Guard do,” said Little. “We aren’t just soldiers, we are mechanics, electricians, students and teachers.”
That passion for the band is why Pierson has stayed with them so long, that love of music and teaching. Pierson celebrated his 16th year with Yelm High School as the band master and teacher recently and while he knows his time with the 133rd Band might be coming to an end soon, he knows his teaching days are still ahead of him.
“I have been blessed to be with this amazing group for so long and have loved every minute of it,” said Pierson. “I have a few things pending in the Guard and could find myself either staying in music or moving to our 205th Regiment. Either way I will still get to teach and mentor and that is such an honor.”
| Date Taken: | 07.13.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.13.2022 15:29 |
| Story ID: | 424916 |
| Location: | CAMP MURRAY, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 172 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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