Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Shane Klestinski | Army Staff Sgt. Camilo Perez, a squad leader and saxophone player, conducts Soldiers...... read more read more
When Floridians hear the term “military support,” images of Florida Army National Guard (FLARNG) Soldiers rescuing people and assisting civil authorities during a hurricane might understandably come to mind first. What most never consider is the power of music, which is also at the Florida Guard's disposal.
The FLARNG’s 13th Army Band, based in Miramar, supports military functions across the Sunshine State, such as change of command ceremonies, funeral honors, and various banquets and balls. Its mission also covers a wide variety of community outreach programs, which involve performances for civilian audiences throughout Florida at events like the Miami Marathon, or public events celebrating Independence Day or Veterans Day, among others.
Most recently, the 13th Army Band provided musical support for the U.S. Southern Command’s change of command. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III presided over the ceremony wherein Army Gen. Laura Richardson transferred her command to Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey in Doral, Florida, Nov. 7. The band also entertained crowds at the Veterans Salute Celebration, a Veterans Day event in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Nov. 11.
“Everyone was moved by the attention to detail and the band's ability to capture the essence of every song,” said Shannon Laughren, Palm Beach Gardens’ recreation supervisor. “[The band’s] contribution to the ceremony [was] an immense detail in making this year's Veterans Salute Celebration an amazing event.”
The band’s entertainment capabilities go beyond the typical marching music made famous by John Philip Sousa, for which military bands are traditionally known. The 13th Army Band also has a wide variety of specialized performance teams that focus on particular types of music. “Sintonía” is the band’s Latin performance team, “The MREs” focus on rock, the “Bold and Brash” is a brass quintet, the “Bazooka Brass” is the band’s brass performance team that features specialized choreography and pop tunes, the “State of State” is a jazz combo, and the “Coastal Winds” team is a woodwind quintet.
Selection for the 13th Army Band is highly competitive. New members are often, though not always, the result of word-of-mouth referrals. Hopeful candidates typically begin the selection process by playing a prepared piece of music for two to three of the band’s senior members, to include the bandmaster, in an appointment set up by a recruiter. Those senior members provide feedback on what the applicant needs to improve, as multiple audition attempts are common. In the case of successful candidates, eventually a video of their performance goes to a formal school at Fort Story, Virginia, where they will later report for advanced individual training (AIT).
“There are a couple of steps to get through the audition process to really even be prepared to go to basic training and on to AIT,” said Army Staff Sgt. Robert Darragh, the 13th Army band’s readiness noncommissioned officer, who has also previously played as a member of the Parris Island Marine Band. “[The Army musician AIT] basically focuses on marching and playing at ceremonies, and all those things that a Soldier would do in an Army band.”
Performing in a military band, in any branch, can provide its performers with experiences that most military personnel never have. Army Staff Sgt. Walter Mercado-Velez, the band’s supply sergeant, said that one of his most significant memories as an Army musician was a 2023 Veterans Day event. Performing as a member of the marching band, he was the opening act for a concert that featured Chris Stapleton, Imagine Dragons, and H.E.R.
“That was pretty cool, being able to do the service songs to open up their concert,” Mercado-Velez said. “I was told the crowd was about 25,000 people. When you see the lights and react to the crowd and everything [in a venue like that], that’s just such an experience to go through.”
Due to the highly specialized nature of its mission, the band’s drill weekends are a little different from those of most National Guard units.
“Our typical drill weekend varies based on what missions we have coming up,” Mercado-Velez said. “We’ll tailor most of that drill period to rehearsing in preparation for that venue… and we’ll divide our day up among our various groups [for training].”
Certain performance teams will sometimes prepare extra features for an appearance as they best meet the needs of that mission. Sintonía, the Latin performance team, offers one of the band’s more energetic performances, and its members will sometimes coordinate some basic choreography prior to going on stage.
“That’s always a fun thing to do, and most of those decisions are just spur-of-the-moment things that come from, ‘Hey, how about we do this?’” Mercado-Velez said. “We want to get some basic salsa steps in because when we do these outreach performances, we want to capture the crowd, not just play music and stand still. If they don’t see you having fun, then what’s the point?”
However, Mercado-Velez also emphasized that the 13th Army Band’s Soldiers are precisely that: Soldiers. As Soldiers, they need to maintain the same training proficiencies and meet the same required standards as any other FLARNG member, regardless of military occupational specialty.
“We also have our administrative work, we’ll do physical training – we have an Army Combat Fitness Test coming up soon – and we’ll complete all the other usual Army duties, as well,” Mercado-Velez said.
During hurricane activations, band members put their instruments away to provide any defense support that civil authorities may need, which has previously included serving in emergency operations centers throughout the state as liaisons between the FLARNG and civilian disaster relief agencies.
As is typical of most military efforts, “the plan” can require extensive revision upon arrival in the actual area of operations. Not all venues are created equal, the weather can have a major impact on a performance, and last-minute adjustments or improvisations are occasionally necessary for successful mission accomplishment.
“Sometimes we have to alter what we’d normally do as far as spacing between Soldiers,” Mercado-Velez said. “For example, in certain concert set-ups, we’ll have to put drums behind, flutes on the floor, and everyone else on stage; it all depends. [We’ve had places] where we barely had room to breathe because it was so tight, but we looked and sounded pretty good.”
Darragh recalled “odd events,” like when a generator once failed during an Independence Day celebration, causing the lights to go out during a nighttime performance. Even under such circumstances, “the show must go on,” as the old saying goes, especially when that show is, by definition, a military operation.
“It’s not ideal, but you have to keep going,” Darragh said. “We had people – literally with cell phones – lighting up the stands. People who weren’t playing held flashlights, and we just kept on rolling. The gig itself was good.”
The 13th Army Band is a subordinate unit within the 50th Regional Support Group.
| Date Taken: | 11.26.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.28.2024 10:53 |
| Story ID: | 486150 |
| Location: | MIRAMAR, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 67 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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