4SCOTS help Colombian cadets pipe for president
THANKS to an alliance between two military pipe bands, bagpipes provided the musical backdrop to the commissioning of Colombian navy cadets last month.
At the start of November, the 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 SCOTS, The Highlanders), deployed a three-man training team to the Colombian Navy Officers Academy for a month to tutor its pipe band and prepare members for their annual commissioning parade.
The UK has been sending pipers and drummers to Colombia for almost 30 years to help train their band which has been a tradition in the Navy Academy for nearly 50 years.
The trip began in Bogota, when Lance Corporal Dixon flew in ahead of the rest of the team to play at a remembrance service. The assembled crowd appreciated having a military bugler at the parade, a rare experience for them.
The rest of the team flew in a few days later with everyone meeting up in Cartagena, the site of the Navy Academy. The temperature was vastly different from the cold UK winter and they spent the first few weeks acclimatising, drinking litres of water and moving from shade to shade.
The 4 SCOTS team was greeted warmly by cadets and staff at the academy and got straight down to training. The students were very enthusiastic, but their kit was old and had suffered a lot in the sun and humidity. After essential first aid on the pipes and drums, the cadets began training in earnest.
The team had three weeks to prepare the band for the commissioning parade and the arrival of the president of Colombia, who was a piper at the Navy Academy when he was a cadet 50 years ago; a tough man to please.
The team and cadets worked hard, fitting practice around the cadets’ long training days and slowly but surely they began to improve.
Finally the big day arrived and, after a final week of rehearsals, sometimes until 10pm, the team was ready. The crowd was gathered on the stands and the cadets stood on parade with their rifles and boots gleaming.
Then the president appeared and the pipe band struck up. The tutors watched with bated breath as the pipers performed their set to perfection, with the crowd in awe of the drone of the pipes.
At the end of the parade the team marched on and performed a short set for the president, after which he came down and thanked the team for their efforts.
Reflecting on their time in South America, expedition leader Captain Porro said: ‘It hasn’t all been hard work. We have had the chance to make the most of our time in the Caribbean, soaking up the hot sun on the white beaches, visiting the beautiful old city centre, learning about the fascinating history of Cartagena and even trying salsa dancing with the locals.
‘Everyone has had a fantastic time and thoroughly enjoyed getting to experience a little slice of South America. There are certainly worse ways to spend your Monday morning.’
Everyone has had a fantastic time.” Captain Porro Expedition leader