Patch American High School students march during the team regulation portion of the European drill team competition in Ansbach, Germany, on Saturday. (Dan Blottenberger / Stars and Stripes)
ANSBACH, Germany — The home team topped seven others in a competition held Saturday to determine which Department of Defense Dependents Schools Europe school had the best drill team this year.
Ansbach High School’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps drill team captured first prize in three of seven events against JROTC teams from Bamberg, Baumholder, Heidelberg, Hohenfels, Mannheim, Patch and Vilseck.
Ansbach’s team also placed in the top three in the other events. The annual competition was held in a hangar.
Cadet 1st Lt. Jeff Brice, who won the individual regulation drill for the second consecutive year, says winning takes a lot of practice and watching what other teams are doing to learn new techniques and maneuvers.
"You have to work off the other teams," said Brice, of Ansbach High.
"A lot of the tricks I learned off watching other teams do them — I just did them better. We bounce tricks off of each other."
Brice said after the competition that his hands were beat up from twirling his rifle, but not as beat up as his mother’s brooms and mops that he practiced with.
Competitors changed uniforms and marched around performing drill and ceremony movements while a handful of judges from the nearby 12th Combat Aviation Brigade graded the performers or their precision and technique. There were individual and group contests.
Drill competition winners
Team Regulation Drill: Vilseck High School
Squad Regulation Drill: Vilseck High School
Individual Regulation Drill: Cadet 1st Lt. Jeff Brice, Ansbach High School
Color Guard: Vilseck High School
Individual Expedition Drill: Brice, Ansbach High School
2-man Expedition Drill: Brice and Cadet Command Sgt. Maj. Edmund Parowski, Ansbach High School
Team Expedition Drill: Patch American High School
Overall winner: Ansbach High School
Patch American High School students march during the team regulation portion of the European drill team competition in Ansbach, Germany, on Saturday. (Dan Blottenberger / Stars and Stripes)
The Patch American High School drill team performs during the team exhibition portion of the competition Saturday in Ansbach. Patch won this portion of the event. (Dan Blottenberger / Stars and Stripes)
From left, cadets Sgt. David Devin, Command Sgt. Maj. Ian Sellers, Cpl. Douglas Miller and Sgt. Jeffrey Redden of the Hohenfels American High School color guard perform. (Dan Blottenberger / Stars and Stripes)
Members of the Ansbach American High School drill team prepare for their team exhibition performance. (Dan Blottenberger / Stars and Stripes)
Cadet 1st Lt. Jeff Brice, a member of the Ansbach American High School drill team, presents himself to the judges before his individual precision performance. Brice won the event. (Dan Blottenberger / Stars and Stripes)
