MI Corps Band receives inactivation orders, commander sets record straight

Sierra Vista Herald ^ | Monique Brand

[SandRat]

FORT HUACHUCA — CW3 Michael Moore wants to make one thing clear: his orders to Fort Huachuca have nothing to do with inactivating the Fort Huachuca Military Intelligence Corps Band (MI Corps).

Moore currently serves as the band’s — also known as the 62nd Army Band — commander. He officially took command on May 3.

The process of inactivating a band comes from a higher up, like the Department of the Army, Moore said. “So that direct instruction come through the various echelons of the Army.”

The official Department of the Army memorandum of inactivation was signed and dated on April 10. The MI Corps received its orders on Apr. 19 via email, according to Moore. Band members and the unit’s key leaders were given a brief on the matter on May 9.

“The band has known it was going to inactivate for a while,” he said. “Individual members will start to receive their PCS (permanent change of station) orders later this month.”

The date they receive their orders doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the date they have to leave, he noted.

Through an email provided to the Herald/Review by CW5 William S. McCulloch of the Army Music Proponency Office, it states that the inactivation is part of a reduction and restructuring process called Total Army Analysis (TAA).

TAA is a recognized Army process that links “strategy to force structure and serves as the bridge between Joint Staff guidance and the Army’s planning and programming processes, balancing the Army’s force structure requirements with available and planned resources,” according to a April 2015 statement from the National Commission on the Future of the Army.

“The 62nd Army Band inactivation is a result of decisions made through the TAA 19-23 in which we lost 179 spaces in the active component, and through related restructuring, will inactivate four bands,” McCulloch wrote.

The following four bands and two detachments will become inactive in the next two years:

389th Army Band "AMC's Own" (Redstone Arsenal, Alabama)

U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Band (Fort Eustis, Virginia)

62nd Army Band (Fort Huachuca, Arizona)

323rd Army Band "Fort Sam's Own" (Fort Sam Houston, Texas)

Detachment 1, 282nd Army Band (Detachment at Fort Gordon, Georgia Parent Unit at Fort Jackson, South Carolina)

Detachment 1, 283rd Army Band (Detachment at Fort Rucker, Alabama; parent unit at Fort Benning, Georgia)

Tanja Linton, the installation’s public affairs officer, said the process is part of the Army’s constant effort to place “people in the right places to accomplish the Army’s goal and make changes deemed necessary.”

Linton also said, “We understand the community’s constant support of our Army bands and it is much appreciated.”

The inactivation process, said Moore, will be gradual.

“We…projected the next 18 months,” he said. “I’m pretty sure the community is wondering ‘how much longer are we (MI Corps Band) is going to support?’ The information that I received, the initial assessment, is we will reduce our music support capability by March 2018. That is the target date that we are anticipating,” Moore noted.

The inactivation will start as a shift in capabilities, such as parades and marching on or off the Fort and will represent a significant change, he added.

Meanwhile, the band will continue to perform throughout the community, with its next performance on July 4 at the Veterans Memorial Park Centennial Pavilion. The early evening event, “Celebrate America: A Tribute to our Great Nation,” will have performances from the Jazz, Pop, and Americana genres.

This is not the first time the MI Corps band has been ordered to inactivate.

The Military Intelligence Corps Band history began when it was constituted Feb. 2, 1901 as “Band, 15th Cavalry” at The Presidio of San Francisco, California.

Later relocating to Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming, the band was inactivated Oct. 18, 1921. It later reactivated at Fort Riley, Kansas on March 22, 1942.

Through the years, the band went through numerous moves and reorganizations, including time from 1944 to 1946 when it moved to Camp Ellis, Illinois, then relocated to Camp Swift and Camp Bowie, Texas before being transferred to Fort Bliss, Texas in February 1946.

The band was re-designated “62nd Army Band” on May 15, 1947 and remained at Fort Bliss for 64 years, until June 14 2011, when it arrived at its new headquarters on Fort Huachuca.

Not long after its arrival, the 62nd Army Band was officially designated as the "U.S. Army Military Intelligence Corps Band,” on July 13, 2011.

The Military Intelligence (MI) Corps Band received campaign participation credit for the Philippine Insurrection and World War I, and has been awarded the Army Superior Unit Award.

For more information on the MI Corps inactivation transition or performance schedule, visit, facebook.com/MI.Corps.Band or music.army.mil.

[SandRat]

Ever since becoming a TRAINING Command Postt wevve been minimumized.

[BenLurkin]

Isn’t there an old saying. Military Intelligence is to music as military music is to justice?

Or something like that.

Just kidding!

[JoeFromSidney]

Bands don't cost that much, and they're an important morale issue. I think this is a big mistake.

[VeniVidiVici]

I never knew MI had bands.

[jz638]

Band members cost the same as other troops, retire after twenty years, and they get to be unenthusiastic gate guards when they deploy. It’s a better use of government funds to make it a National Guard or Reserve function.

Also, as far as morale goes, any time I had to stand in formation for most of my duty week in order to try not to faint while they trotted out the band to hail and farewell the CG or SGM, my morale was found wanting. The view from the stands was probably much better for morale.

[ReaganCowboy]

The Band rep didn’t bother to attend the TAA meetings two years ago, so the bands got cut. Probably would have gotten cut even if he/she had bothered to participate. It’s a cut-throat process.

And yes, the Army has gotten so small that this is necessary. There is no fat on the muscle, and damn little muscle.

[Redwood71]

“Just make sure you get billets to people that can play and make it their primary collateral duty.”

I believe it already is with an MOS and a career field. This action is more like palace balance back in the late 70’s early 80’s where they took people out of non-critical overmanned career fields to catch up on the manning documents for more mission essential jobs. Even though the overmanned career fields weren’t very often.

MOS 42R Army Bandsperson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03FH0o0uVHs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qopEEaoUgw

rwood

[MSF BU]

The civilian personnel administering the ‘sodomy is great’ and ‘religion is bad’ training will still be retained. By the way, STILL no Secretary of the Army yet. Duncan Hunter, call your office.

[Uncle Sam 911]

Bands take a far back seat to political correctness now, the Army is far more concerned in getting women through Ranger School and Infantry/Armor schools than anything else. (Retired Army Officer)