Turnover

We just said goodbye to a fellow trumpet player moving on to his next duty assignment. It's really the first departure I've experienced since being in the field and it's kind of a strange concept to really think about. These first four months have been with essentially the same group of musicians. A few new arrivals, but no one leaving. Now we have 5 different people leaving and new arrivals coming to take their places in the next couple of months. This kind of constant turnaround is the status quo in the band field.

It doesn't really lend itself to building a strong group sound among players. You think about most major symphonies and their players and you have continuity over a period of 20+ years in many cases. Here, you get an almost entirely new band every 3 years or so. Interesting.

I think this leads to a more unified army band sound. The basic army sound will be the same whether you're in Germany, Virginia, Japan, or Alaska because there's no time to develop a distinctive sound at any one location. I think it also leads to a feeling of greater camaraderie among all the musicians. Instead of just getting to know the same 30 guys over several years, you get to meet 60+ new people every couple of years. A few years in the field and you seem to know just about everyone.

I suppose these are a few consolations, but we still lost a great guy today. Hawaii's lucky to get him.