By DANIEL J. WAKIN
c.2010 New York Times News Service
Modern wars need a modern military, light and fast on its feet, and the U.S. Army has changed accordingly. So has its music.
The Army this summer issued an updated field manual for its lyrical forces – more than 100 bands – that formalizes a major change in the way they operate. It makes them more nimble and flexible, just as the Army has done for its fighting units.
Bands have been broken down into components, like rock, blues and salsa groups; jazz bands; brass quintets; and woodwind ensembles, any of which can be sent quickly, alone or together, to remote and dangerous places. A heavy-metal quartet called the Four Horsemen of the Arockalypse, courtesy of the 3rd Infantry Division Band, even has a homemade music video.