All musicians have to be team players to succeed. You have to listen and mold your talent to those around you. “Hot dogging” or selfishness is not a trait that will get you hired for a gig or keep you employed for long. You can tell a real professional as you listen to how they match articulation, phrasing, dynamics as they become one with their mates.  Their isn’t very much more satisfying than doing a job where everyone is synced up. The blend is perfect, the pitch is pure …I am getting goose bumps…

My colleagues practice and master these elements of team but go further….. They build team by creating a workplace of equality and tolerance. Let me explain.

 You can tell what is important in the Army by looking at a unit's schedule or Army regulations and looking for things that repeat. We all know that our basic rifle skills are important because we do it all the time. Physical fitness is a given because we do it TOGETHER every morning.

One thing you may not know, Equal Opportunity and Consideration of Others programs are a integral part of our regular routine. They are essential in making us who we are and most importantly making us the best team we can be as we represent you around the world.

Music and musicians seem to embrace these concepts quickly. The music seems to be a natural bridge that allows us to accept each others strengths and weaknesses and look to the end “best team” result.  The Army is a team and we can’t have someone sit on the sidelines. We are all necessary. I love being part of a great organization like this.

Many years before racial integration the Calvary Bands of the Buffalo Soldiers would get together and perform with their “opposite” Calvary Division Bands.  The pictures are extraordinary and are the first thing you notice when you walk into my former unit, The US Army Medical Command Band building at Ft. Sam Houston, TX. Dave Brubeck refused to leave his fellow soldiers in WWII because he needed to have his “Wolf Pack” band integrated. Army Bands were also the first units to accept gender integration. Groups like the Army Field Band’s Soldiers Chorus and the former WAC Band -14^th Army Band at Ft. McClellan, AL embraced the change. Team and mission, respect and loyalty to each other came first.

I am writing this because our unit just completed our Command Climate Survey. This is something we consistently do to put a spotlight on our behavior and make sure we sustain the team. Corrections or improvements to who we are as an organization are examined. We plan a way ahead. WE always want to improve the team.  I am so impressed at how this approach of teamwork helps the performance  and the quality of your 9^th Army “Arctic Warrior” Band. It gives us THE EDGE over every other musical organization.

I have learned that we exhibit our seven core values in embracing these core Army programs.

We measure our Loyalty:  we will always pickup our colleagues and allow them to grow as a team; Duty: we set aside our differences for the sake of the mission and our country; Respect: we all are different. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Each of us is special and essential to the mission and the team; Selfless-service: we are dedicated to the needs of our colleagues and sacrifice our wants for the betterment and improvement of the team; Honor, we stand up for one another and won’t allow “quit” into the organization; Integrity: we build trust with right actions and right behavior, nothing less is acceptable to the team; and finally, Personal Courage:  problems are addressed and not swept under the rug.

The right way isn’t always easy and America’s Soldiers strive to be the best and model the greatness of our country. We are a team.

Until next time…Arctic Warrior Arctic Tough

CW2 Jeff Price