US Military Bands – Adaptistration

“It’s Smart, It’s Delicate, And It’s Diplomacy At Its Finest”

Monday, August 1st, 2016 by Drew McManus

It is heartening to see the US Armed Forces actively push back against the proposed amendment from Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ), and co-sponsors Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), to gut military music programs by cutting their funding. In addition to a host of public statements from military and civilian leaders inside every branch of service and the Department of Defense, the United States Air Force (USAF) went …

An Update On The Efforts To Save Military Music

Monday, July 25th, 2016 by Drew McManus

It’s time for an update on current efforts to help block proposed a funding amendment in the 2017 Defense Appropriations bill designed to gut military music programs. If you’ve been keeping up with what has been going on, you already know that the next step in the process was to get the amendment removed prior to the Senate vote (if this is new to you, start here to get up to speed). …

Why Yes, You SHOULD Care About Military Bands

Wednesday, July 13th, 2016 by Drew McManus

The 7/11/2016 edition of NonprofitQuarterly.org published an article by Sophie Lewis (h/t Joe Patti) that examines the value military bands add to the national cultural scene and why you should care that some in congress are attempting to all but eliminate funding for the entire program. Lewis’ article joins another exemplary piece of writing from Dave Philipps in the 7/1/2016 edition of the New York Times. In that article, the author …

4th Of July Is Especially Important This Year

Monday, July 4th, 2016 by Drew McManus

Typically, my 4th Of July posts wish everyone a fun and relaxing holiday regardless if you’re at home with family and friends or out working at one of the numerous live music events that make this particular holiday special. Some of the most prominent music ensembles working today are the US Armed Forces military bands but those ensembles are in grave danger of being de-funded thanks to a handful of Representatives …

ACTION ALERT: Here’s What You Can Do To Help Defeat The Destruction Of Military Bands

Sunday, June 26th, 2016 by Drew McManus

Although there have always been some members of congress bent on gutting the US Armed Forces music programs, most measures rarely make it past a committee vote but all of that changed last week thanks to Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) playing politics with an amendment to the 2017 defense appropriations act that all but eviscerates the entire music program. McSally managed to finagle enough support on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee to …