DTD Coaches Network Course of Study

The DTD Training Apprenticeship Program

The courses below may, of course, be utilized to expand your personal knowledge of drill team training!  However, new in 2025, they are also core components of the DTD Training Apprenticeship program which outlines the steps one can take to undergo formal professional development.

CLICK HERE to learn about this program.

Overview

In this article, you will find the entire course of study to join the DTD Coaches Network and earn your additional Endorsements!

As an organization, we’ve been working with other people’s children for almost a decade.  In that time, we learned a lot, made many mistakes, and gained a tremendous amount of insight into building healthy, positive drill team programs.  The materials presented herein exist to help you start where we are now.  While learning from your own mistakes is important, learning from someone else’s mistakes can be even better.

This course of study is designed to help you learn the material.  As such, there is no limit to the number of times you can complete a test before passing.  If it takes you try and you ace it, great.  If it takes you ten tries, awesome.

We’re here to help you learn because when you stand in front of a group of cadets as an adult entrusted with their care, you won’t rise the occasion; you’ll fall to the highest level of your preparation.

Welcome to Coaching

This course of study is a prerequisite to joining the DTD Coaches Network!  You must pass the required test with a 90% or greater.  Successfully completing your test will result in being added to the Network!

1. Open the Welcome to Coaching test in a separate tab or window!  We recommend typing out your answers somewhere you can save if you need more than one sitting to complete the coursework!
2. Complete the test while you explore the following modules:
   • Section Introduction
   • Avoiding Lawsuits
   • Waivers
   • Parent Meetings
   • Interacting Safely With Cadets
   • Personal Space & Training
   • Mandated Reporting
   • Online Interactions
   • What To Do If You Are Contacted Inappropriately
   • The Danger Zone
3. Submit your responses and any required documentation from the test on the form in step 1!

Networking & Marketing Endorsement

This course of study will earn you a Networking & Marketing Endorsement.  In this module, you’ll learn about and explore the various professional facets of coaching.  You’ll learn about finding coaching opportunities, pricing your services, negotiating contracts, and marketing yourself as a coach.  You must pass the required test with a 70% or greater.  Successfully completing your test will result in the Networking & Marketing Endorsement being added to your DTD Coaches Network record!

1. Open the Networking & Marketing test in a separate tab or window! We recommend typing out your answers somewhere you can save if you need more than one sitting to complete the coursework!
2. Complete the test while you explore the following video modules:
   • Section Introduction
   • Finding Coaching Opportunities
   • Types of Involvement
   • Marketing Yourself
   • Setting Your Rate
   • Contracts & Agreements
   • Invoicing
   • Tax-Deductible Expenses – The Basics
   • Traveling to Teach – Driving
   • Traveling to Teach – Driving Miles & Tax Deductions
   • Traveling to Teach – Flights & Flying
   • Traveling to Teach – Lodging
   • Traveling to Teach – Meals & Food
3. Submit your responses and any required documentation from the test on the form in step 1!

Teaching Endorsement

NOTE: Beginning 1 January 2024, this Endorsement requires the purchase of an online course for $30.  The materials below are intended to be highly impactful even if you don’t desire to formally earn this Endorsement.

This course of study will earn you a Teaching Endorsement.  In this module, you’ll add to your toolbox as a teacher.  You’ll learn about teaching techniques, approach and methodology, structuring practices, and much more!  You must pass the required test with a 90% or greater AND submit a certificate from the completion of the Positive Coaching Affiliation’s Double-Goal Coach®: Developing The Triple-Impact Competitor® course.  Successfully completing your test will result in the Teaching Endorsement being added to your DTD Coaches Network record!

1. Open the Teaching test in a separate tab or window! We recommend typing out your answers somewhere you can save if you need more than one sitting to complete the coursework!
2. Complete the test while you explore the following video modules:
   • Section Introduction
   • Teaching Methodology
   • Preparation: Gathering Information
   • Preparation: Lesson Planning
   • Preparation: Season or Practice Scheduling
   • Preparation: Teaching Personalities
   • Preparation: Structure of Practice Intro
   • Preparation Structure of Practice
   • Preparation: Styles of Practice
   • Execution: Teaching What TO DO vs. Telling What NOT To Do
   • Execution: Instructional Strategies Toolbox
   • Execution: Teaching to Various Learning Styles
   • Execution: Keeping Engagement High
   • Follow-Up: Reflecting, Debriefing, & Restarting the Process
3. Visit the official website of the Positive Coaching Alliance by CLICKING HERE.  On this site, you can read more about the values of this organization and their approach to coaching young people!
4. Navigate to the PCA’s online course listing by CLICKING HERE.  Scroll down to the course entitled “Double-Goal Coach®: Developing the Triple-Impact Competitor®” and click “Sign Up to Take the Course.”  Create an account, purchase the course for $30, and complete the materials.  When you have completed the course, in the “Overview” box below the video screen, you should be able to scroll down under “Outcomes” and download the certificate of completion.
5. Submit your responses and any required documentation from the test on the form in step 1!

Regulation Drill Endorsement

This course of study will earn you a Regulation Drill Endorsement.  In this module, you’ll hone your skills as a Regulation coach through studying various movements in all service manuals, learning Regulation-specific teaching techniques, etc.  You must pass the required test with a 70% or greater but there is a twist: this test combines written knowledge with filming yourself teaching various facets of Regulation drill, along with creating a lesson plan for teaching a Regulation concept!  It is HIGHLY suggested that you earn your Teaching Endorsement prior to attempting to complete this course of study and test!

1. Open the Regulation Drill test in a separate tab or window! We recommend typing out your answers somewhere you can save if you need more than one sitting to complete the coursework!
2. Explore the following video modules:
   1. Approaching Competitive JROTC Regulation Drill
   2. Manuals, SOPs, and Cadet Success
   3. The Importance of Knowing Your Manuals
   4. Marching Masterclass
   5. Optional: Rifle Manual Mastery Masterclass
   6. All Materials Found in the REGULATION Section of Drillpedia
3. Submit your responses and any required documentation from the test on the form in step 1!

Exhibition Endorsement

This course of study will earn you your Exhibition Drill Endorsement.  You may opt to earn an Armed Exhibition OR Unarmed Exhibition Endorsement (or both!) You must pass the required test with a 70% or greater but there is a twist: this test combines written knowledge with filming yourself teaching various facets of Exhibition drill, along with creating a lesson plan for teaching a Exhibition concept!  It is HIGHLY suggested that you earn your Teaching Endorsement prior to attempting to complete this course of study and test!

1. Open the Exhibition Drill test in a separate tab or window! We recommend typing out your answers somewhere you can save if you need more than one sitting to complete the coursework!
2. Explore the following video modules:
   • Armed Exhibition Masterclass OR Unarmed Exhibition Masterclass
3. Submit your responses and any required documentation from the test on the form in step 1!

Color Guard Endorsement

This course of study will earn you your Color Guard Endorsement.  You must pass the required test with a 70% or greater but there is a twist: this test combines written knowledge with filming yourself teaching various facets of Color Guard drill, along with creating a lesson plan for teaching a Color Guard concept!  It is HIGHLY suggested that you earn your Teaching Endorsement prior to attempting to complete this course of study and test!

1. Open the Color Guard test in a separate tab or window! We recommend typing out your answers somewhere you can save if you need more than one sitting to complete the coursework!
2. Explore the following video modules:
   • Competition Color Guard Masterclass
   • All Materials Located in the COLOR GUARD Section of Drillpedia
3. Submit your responses and any required documentation from the test on the form in step 1!

Service Manual Endorsements

To earn an Endorsement in a particular service manual, you must pass its requisite test with a 90% or greater.  Furthermore, you will need to request this test when you have a 3-hour window of time in which you can complete it.  The test is an open-book, short-answer test which MUST BE HANDWRITTEN AND SUBMITTED AS A SCAN OR IMAGE.  

These tests are designed not only to measure your KNOWLEDGE of the manual but also, and more importantly, your ability to quickly and easily churn through the pages and pages of text contained in each manual to find the answer you need in an efficient fashion.

There is no such thing as perfectly memorizing a manual: even the best, most well-trained individuals with active-duty drill teaching experience constantly consult the manuals to ensure they are well-versed.  It is far more important that you be able to know where in the manual a particular topic of instruction is located, find it quickly, interpret it, and begin to teach from it quickly.

1. Contact us via email to mwendling@drill-dynamics.com OR in your individual chat in the DTD Discord Server to request one of the following tests:
   • Army TC 3-21.5
   • Marine Corps Order 5060.20
   • Air Force Manual 36-2203
2. In the designated 3-hour window, print your test, hand-write your responses, and submit it as a scan or image via either of the methods in step 1 above.