Posted on 06/15/2018 6:14:43 AM PDT by SandRat
The U.S. Army Military Intelligence Corps Band will hold a farewell concert and inactivation ceremony this Saturday, commemorating a 141-year legacy of Army music at Fort Huachuca.
Band alumni, some traveling from as far as Alabama, will join with current members to perform a final concert. It marks the end of a long tradition of musical support, both at Fort Huachuca and at events in Sierra Vista, said Media Relations Officer Tanja Linton.
“They add so much to the rhythm of life at Fort Huachuca. They’re ambassadors for the community,” said Linton. “It’s a loss, and we’re kind of heartbroken.”
Last year, the band (also known as the 62nd Army Band) became the latest one ordered to inactivate by the Department of the Army as part of changes to the branch’s overall music structure, said Linton.
“The Army’s mission and the needs of the Army change constantly,” she said. “The fact that it’s being inactivated means that there’s a possibility (of reactivation), but I don’t know that there are plans to do that in the future right now.”
The band has only been at Fort Huachuca since 2011, but it has undergone multiple moves and redesignations in its long history.
It was first constituted in 1901 as “Band, 15th Cavalry” in California, and wasn’t redesignated as the 62nd Army Band until 1947, when it was located at Fort Bliss in Texas.
The band’s absence will be keenly felt in the Sierra Vista community, where it has been a regular presence at events, graduations and parades. Retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Charles Vollherbst, who served as conductor from 1979-1985 when the Fort Huachuca band was the 36th Army Band, fondly remembers evenings performing in busy spots in Sierra Vista and at local graduations.
“I think there’s a lot of detriment to losing a band,” he said. “The one at Fort Huachuca is a big part of the culture, all over Arizona.”
The final concert is scheduled to go on regardless of the weather, said band Commander Michael Jeffrey Moore.
“We’re anticipating somewhere between 50 and 70 alumni,” he said, adding that planning for the concert has been going on for more than a year. “The theme for the concert is ‘141 years of music at the Fort Huachuca.’”
More information can be found on the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Corps Band Facebook page. Look for more coverage of the inactivation ceremony from the Herald/Review next week after the concert.
If You Go
What: Military Intelligence Corps Band Alumni concert and inactivation ceremony
When: Saturday at 7 p.m.
Where: Veterans Memorial Park Centennial Pavilion in Sierra Vista
Tickets: Concert, ceremony are free and open to the public
For more information, use the hashtag #MICorpsBandLegacy on social media
Give me a break.
Going forward, music will be performed by a guy doing a bang up beat-box thang and three posing drag queens.
They will need to replace the Army Anthem with "Ooga booga ooga boogie f**k f**k f**k"
This makes me sad.
We attended a concert on another post before Christmas. It was wonderful for the community on post and off post. It is a morale boost to have the band play at events. I wonder if they plan to end the President’s Own Marine Band or if that show will go on.
We went to a graduation at Parris Island and loved watching the band perform at a flag ceremony. It meant something for our children to see and hear.
A few months ago some members of the nearby post band visited our sons’ school for a final performance. I guess the band has visited the school for years. It was a great way to make the military children feel good about their parents and the moves every few years. Or the loss of a parent to war in a far away land.
Are the other services also doing away with music?
Boy oh boy. You're remarks are spot on. Every word of your post is balls-on-accurate. Music is dead.
There's one place I've got to hand it to a the illegal immigrants. Most of their little AM radio stations play something that could broadly be recognized as music. And at one time Negro music meant Nat King Cole, or Sarah Vaughn or Count Basie.
Service bands are a military tradition. Like heterosexuality used to be. But to pay for all the new transsexual and homosexuals stuff they had to make cuts. Homosexuality is why we can't have nice things.
“some traveling from as far as Alabama”
All the way from Alabama? This must be big deal!
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