Overview
Whether it’s for Inspection or Regulation, opening and closing ranks can be one of the most challenging movements to nail 100% of the time with outstanding consistency, alignment, and distance.
Here’s a quick tip to help you practice this movement, regardless of your service manual!
Work In a Single Line
To practice this movement, simply break the platoon/flight by squads/elements and have everyone stand in a single squad/element in LINE formation.
The order of the single squad/element should be first squad/element, second, third, etc.
From here, command “Open Ranks, MARCH!”
Have each cadet freeze and, without breaking their bearing, direct them to intentionally guess whether they are too far forward, too far backward, or just right. It’s helpful to have them raise hands so the coach or commander can assess the accuracy of their responses.
Next, verify the distance that each squad/element travelled. When performed perfectly, the spacing between each squad/element should be equal with the proper distance per your service manual. Adjust the squad/element leaders accordingly and allow the squad/element members to adjust as needed.
At this juncture, it’s helpful to place a marker next to each of the forward squad/element leaders so that they can assess the quality and consistency of their step size with each repetition of this exercise.
Reset to the single line and repeat the process until accuracy and consistency are established.
Once your team is ready to close ranks, repeat the process but for Close Ranks.
ARMY UNITS – Your third squad has not moved so performing the backwards march required to execute Close Ranks should place you back in the line with exact alignment to the squad that hasn’t moved. It’s very important than your third squad participate by standing at a perfect Position of Attention. The end result should be a perfectly aligned single line of cadets once more!
MARINE CORPS and NAVY UNITS – If you are practicing with three squads, everyone moves forward. This means that correct and consistent distance should be established from the first squad. The first squad should stand at a perfect Position of Attention during each repetition.
AIR FORCE UNITS – Everyone moves forward to close the distance so here, we can work to establish a consistent step size and distance between elements back-to-chest. The element squad should stand at a perfect Position of Attention during each repetition.
Conclusion
This is a simple, effective tactic that helps cadets understand how their step size directly correlates to the distance between ranks. By moving from the platoon/flight formation to a single squad/element, cadets are more readily able to see how small adjustments affect overall alignment, especially when closing ranks!