Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Recruiting Musician Soldiers

When a band loses a musician its usually just a matter of putting an ad in the paper and holding auditions to find a replacement. But it?s not quite that simple when, to join the band, you also have to join the Army. The 91st Division Army Reserve band ? Based in Dublin California - is looking for few good, bagpipers. As KALW?s Nathanael Johnson reports, the band is pioneering some innovative, but strangely familiar, tactics to fill the ranks.

Music

NJ01: Rob Roy is a bagpiper. And really, with such a tartan-checked name, how could he be not be?

Ambi Music post pipes fade under

NJ02: But that?s not his only job: If need be, Roy is prepared to put down the pipes AND switch to a different sort of instrument.

RR01: We are all qualified on the M16. Most of us are qualified on 9 mm pistols. We are all soldiers first. If it came down to it we would pick up a weapon and go into combat. That?s not what any of us want to do, but that?s part of the gig.

NJ03: That part of the gig can make filling the sections of this - the 91st Division Army Reserve Band - a little more difficult than finding a new drummer for your garage band.
(music for a beat)
The group doesn?t sound like it has any holes in it, but Rob Roy ? make that Specialist Roy ? says he could use a few more bagpipes for his pipe and drum unit.

RR02: We?ve played in the Pentagon 6 or 7 times. We used to be - When we had a lot of players we were very high profile. Now, thru retirements and unfortunately a couple of deaths we have dwindled and are looking ? hard ? to rebuild our numbers.

NJ04: So what does a band do when it needs to find new musicians? It usually starts with an ad in the paper, or nowadays, an ad online.

Ambi ? Larry?s music and people talking at Basil Thai Restaurant.

LC01: I was looking on the listing for musicians and there was this one and it was something about military band or whatever and I thought that?s a little bizarre.

NJ05: Larry Chinn is a professional jazz musician who finds many of his gigs on Craigslist.

LC02: My first reaction was, I was really offended by it. I thought it was a really invasive and inappropriate use of this platform and medium that we as a community use. And I have really strong anti-war feelings anyway.

NJ06: Craigslist, has long been the domain of bartering neighbors, black-market entrepreneurs and no-budget community organizers. But lately it?s drawn in some bigger hitters ? first the used car salesmen, then real estate industry ? and now the US Army. Chinn says he resents the military?s entrance into this radically open marketplace. And he wonders if the ads might promise more than the Army will deliver.

LC03: They made this listing on craigslist sound like ?you get to play with the best musicians in the world.? Right. And you get to travel. It reminded me of that thing you know ? travel to far away paces, meet exotic people and kill them.

NJ07: That?s basically what Conrad Myers thought when a recruiter suggested he join the Army Band.

CM01: I had always seen the commercials of you know $40,000 for College and all that thing and it sounded really cool, but we?re in a time of war ? I was afraid immediately you are going to be sent to Iraq. You join as a musician, but like ? yeah right - you?re going to be a musician as you are shooting someone in Iraq.

NJ08: But that?s not how it works, says Chief Warrant Officer Richard Servantez ? director of the Band.

RS It?s one hundred percent guaranteed that anyone who auditions will in fact be assigned to this band, the 91st Division Army Reserve Band stationed here in Dublin, California. We?ve had 100 percent success rate. Before they go and sign contracts at the military processing center they are guaranteed and assured, in writing, that they will be assigned to this unit. 30

NJ09: That was enough to get Myers to an open rehearsal.

CM02: And after a few hours of just sitting and talking to the band members I was like, Wow, this is the army? I was expecting push ups and yelling, it?s just like a community band, with a uniform.

NJ10: Three month?s later, Myers went to basic training. Now he?s in the band and putting ads up on craigslist was his idea. He wrote the listing that Larry Chinn had stumbled across.

CM03: I?m an avid user of craigslist I bought my car on craigslist? and I figured well why not use the musician?s section and the job postings section to get the word out to the musicians in the Bay Area about our organization.
NJ And has it worked at all?
CM Yeah there?s between 5 and 10 people who are getting ready to join.

NJ11: So now on craigslist there?s the normal ads: ?we are a punk/hardcore/screamo band that is looking a singer that can scream highs and low? ? then just underneath ? ?Ever thought about joining the Army Reserve?? It?s about the only listing that offers money upfront ? and certainly the only one with a 15 thousand dollar signing bonus. Of course there?s good reason for this. Most gigs don?t come with the threat of death. Specialist Rob Roy:

RR03: If someone did chose to join the band, that?s an understanding they?d have to have - as in every other job: If you are a clerk typist, if you do data entry, you are a soldier first. Our primary mission beyond that is simply music. (Bring up music ) And that?s what we love to do and that?s what we do best.

NJ12: The band marches in parades, plays for ceremonies and performs holiday concerts - like this one ? for mostly white-haired, flag-waving crowds.

Post Music

Roy acknowledges that, every once and a while, people show up to shout slogans rather than wave flags. Whether protesters object to the Army Band recruiting through craigslist, or the Army?s very existence, Roy says there?s actually something he appreciates in their presence:

RR04: That?s why we live in this county, it?s free speech. That?s why we are in uniform. To defend that. You can say anything you like.

NJ13: And craigslist is all about letting people say anything they like. Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster says he doesn?t see a problem with the ads. So if Sgt. Conrad Myers stops putting the listing up ? it will probably be for more pedestrian reasons: He says ?to get that one person who actually joins the band - he has to sort through and respond to hundreds of emails.

For Artery, I?m Nathanael Johnson. (Can easily edit out ?For Artery? or contact me and I?ll track a new outro).

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