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All across America and around the world this is Veterans Radio.

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Welcome to Veterans Radio.

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I am Jim Fausone.

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I'm the officer of the deck today.

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We've got some great programs for you.

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I think you'll find very interesting.

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to Veteransradio.org.

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We want to welcome to Veterans Radio today Colonel Jason Feddick of the Marine Corps

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retired.

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Colonel, welcome to Veterans Radio.

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Jim, thanks so much for having me on.

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Well this is a really unique opportunity to tell some stories that I think people probably

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have never heard about.

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Colonel Feddick was the 28th Director of the President's Own United States Marine Band.

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That's quite a high honor and must have been really the pinnacle of your career, Colonel.

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Oh absolutely and honestly a complete surprise.

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You know this job of Director of the Marine Band is the same job that John Philip Sousa

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once held.

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He was the 17th Director of the Band in the 1880s.

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And when I joined the service to join the President's Own I could have never imagined

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that someday they'd give me the honor of leading this distinguished unit.

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Well let's kind of start at the beginning.

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How did a nice New England kid like you from New Hampshire end up in the Marine Corps?

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I would say completely by accident.

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My grandfather served in World War II so we had a little bit of service in the family

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but not a whole lot.

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I was training to be a music educator actually at the University of Massachusetts I should

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say and my idea was to be a band director.

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So I was about to get my degree and I was traveling on a little bit of a tour over summer

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kind of an internship with a group called the American Wind Symphony and I saw an advertisement

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for the Marine Band.

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They had an opening for clarinet and the way that the President's Own finds its Marines

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is we audition like civilian orchestras because we are trying to find musicians who are fully

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trained out of the gate and educated to jump right in and start doing their job on behalf

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of the President and the Marine Corps.

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And so the auditions often have civilians who will come to audition and if they win

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the audition and they are qualified to enlist in the Marine Corps and healthy enough to

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get a security clearance they enlist for service in the Marine Band and they stay there for

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their entire careers which of course as you know is very unusual in the service and certainly

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in the Marine Corps.

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So I decided to take a chance and take this audition.

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I was 21 years old.

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I didn't know much about the Marine Corps.

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I certainly had heard of the President's Own but I thought I was completely unqualified.

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You know I imagine just the musicians that are in the band being so good and I'm just

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a college student.

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Came down to Washington, took the audition, was shocked at the end of that audition that

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I won the job and they offered me a position with the band and that set me on a path that

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would eventually lead to becoming the director which is unfathomable to me.

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When you look back on it you say wait a minute a chance seeing of a posting resulted in an

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incredible career.

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Now you have two bachelor's degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and

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you also have a master's degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Maryland

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at College Park.

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This was all, this was not all planned out right?

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This is just taking opportunities that presented themselves.

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Yeah and you can imagine for a young musician student you know the prospect of joining the

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Marines even though we have a very specialized mission in the Marine Corps, a very important

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mission but very unique.

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A lot of people don't know about music in the service and exactly what goes into it

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and who these service members are.

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It was nerve wracking to think I'm going to join the Marine Corps and I'm going to be

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expected to uphold those traditions and that discipline as well as be a musician but when

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I joined you know thinking maybe I'll do my one enlistment my four years and then I'll

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go back to school or I'll start teaching.

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Within a within a couple of months I realized just how incredibly special this opportunity

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was and I had put on hold at that point my aspirations to conduct and to lead because

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I didn't think that that was going to be an opportunity that it would just be playing

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clarinet and doing what I had gone to school to do and then three and a half years into

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my enlistment I was going to re-enlist, was going to continue to serve in the band.

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I was very happy.

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They had an opportunity to audition again to become one of the junior assistant directors,

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one of the conductors and to be commissioned and I took that audition also with no expectations

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and when I won that audition it set me on the path as an officer and as a conductor

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that eventually would lead to my appointment as a director in 2014 but the whole thing

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was completely unplanned.

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If you had talked to me when or anybody when you were a teenager and say hey what would

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you like to do and you say you know what I'd like to be the director of the president's

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zone.

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I'd like to be music advisor of the White House and have the same job that John Philip

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Susan once had.

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How about that?

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You know people would have laughed in your face.

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There's no way to plan that kind of opportunity so you just go where the opportunities lead

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and you just hope that you're the most qualified person at that time and was so fortunate that

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that's how it worked out in that chapter of my career.

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Well that's really one of the pearls of wisdom we get out of these interviews is for people

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to realize you have to prepare yourself and take the opportunity when it shows up.

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These are two opportunities that you had prepared for and you said I'm going to raise my hand

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and give it a try but I have to imagine that when you went home and said to the folks in

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New Hampshire hey I'm going to join the Marine Corps there may have been some raised eyebrows.

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A little bit you know I think if you had known me when I was growing up kind of a class clown

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little jokester sarcastic that probably being a United States Marine was probably low on

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the list of what people thought I might do and certainly a colonel in the United States

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Marine Corps would have been a shock to some of the people who knew me.

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They knew music was very important in my life and that I would be dedicated to wherever

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that service called me but the Marines is very special.

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But I'll tell you Jim as you probably with so many of your guests you know in your own

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family service that the service changes you and within a very short amount of time when

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I became a Marine I was changed and that change fundamentally defined who I'd become as a

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professional who I'd become as a musician and I feel that to this day I'm a retiree

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now and I'm teaching but I still feel that influence on my life both in music and beyond

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music every day and I'm so grateful that I ended up in a place that I never would have

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imagined that I would have gone.

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You know sometimes you end up where you're supposed to be and I think the Marine Corps

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was where I was supposed to be and it really resonated deeply with me and I'm glad that

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I took that chance those years ago because I do shudder to think what would have happened

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if I decided that I didn't have the courage to put myself out there and would have ended

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up in a very different place than I am now.

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Now Colonel there are a lot of listeners right now who have been through basic training themselves

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in the different services and they are asking themselves do the military musicians go to

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a basic training camp?

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And the answer is yes and no.

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So the vast majority of military musicians in all the services do attend recruit training.

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That's different in every service of course different locations different length of time

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almost every Marine does go through basic training and we'll tell you that the members

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of the President's Zone have been exempted from basic training since the 1950s.

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And the reason for that is that the expectation of Marine musicians at the level of the President's

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Zone which are the music the house band for the White House have an incredibly diverse

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portfolio of expectations on behalf of our nation on behalf of the Marine Corps.

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The expectation is that they'd have the education and the experience to do that job in that

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very specialized environment right out of the gate.

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And so without risk of injury without being off of the instrument for 14, 16 weeks that

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exemption was made in the 50s and it's held true.

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So what we do is we bring our Marines our new Marines enlisted to Washington DC and

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we try to indoctrinate them in all of the training that happens in basic training save

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for the weapons training and some of the physical rigors.

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So all of the history customs traditions UCMJ everything that is important about the culture

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of the Marine Corps the respect for the history for the for the traditions of the Marine Corps

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is taught over about an eight week period and that is when people are preparing to make

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that transition before they then start playing full time with the band.

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It is a little bit of a point of contention as you might imagine with some of my colleagues

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in the Marine Corps a lot of Marines who don't have a chance to meet musicians of the present

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zone there's there sometimes suspicious of how could we have Marines that don't go through

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that very important gauntlet that very important rite of passage.

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But as soon as they meet our Marines and see how dedicated they are to telling the Marine

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Corps story to being out there and representing all of our brothers and sisters who are doing

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the hardest work of the Corps they change their minds.

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I mean time and time again as I spoke to my brothers and sisters and they had a chance

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to really understand what the band is all about what music plays for a role in our Marine

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Corps in our country they become transformed as well and I've loved having those relationships

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with those Marines and having those conversations it's been very important.

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Well Colonel I've had the chance to listen to a number of the service bands and choral

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groups and singing groups it's always inspiring when they're out in the community talking

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and performing with folks.

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All if I understand it right do all the services have musicians in them on these kind of engagements?

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Yeah every service has musicians so different sizes of the programs the Coast Guard for

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instance has one band that is stationed in New London Connecticut at the Academy.

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They're a smaller service Department of Homeland Security so that's the only band all the other

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services have about anywhere from eight to twenty bands stationed around the country

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and in some cases around the world.

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In the case of the Marine Corps we have 12 total bands 10 fleet bands that are stationed

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on the coasts where the Marine Corps is also one in Japan in Okinawa and one in Hawaii

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and then there's the Marine Band in Washington we also have the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps

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which is the only drum and bugle corps in the entire armed services so they're very

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historic and very special unit and those are the two ensembles if you go to the Friday

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evening parades at Marine Barracks Washington in the summers you'll see both the President's

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Zone and the Commandant's Zone Marine Drum and Bugle Corps performing together during

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that tattoo during that ceremony which is very impressive to see that level of musicianship

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illuminating that ceremony.

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Well Colonel Federer knew right where I was going with this question because he and I

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talked about 8th and I in DC where the Marines are and if you ever get a chance to go to

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the Friday night silent tattoo under the lights it's an impressive moving affair every time

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and I suspect for the men and women in the band it's equally moving and prideful but

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you've been there you've walked the ground tell us about it.

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It's a sacred place you know Marine Barracks Washington is you know we call it the oldest

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post of the Corps it was the first official post of the Marine Corps in Washington DC

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it was founded by Thomas Jefferson of all people and William Ward Burroughs who was

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the Commandant at the time they picked out this piece of land within marching distance

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of the Capitol in the White House so that the Marines that were stationed there could

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defend our nation international capital if it came to that and of course it did come

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to that in the War of 1812 it's a very special place and it's special historically it's

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a special sacred place to Marines all over the world and it's also special because it

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is our primary connection to the American public you know what music does in the military

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is it connects our service members our men and women in uniform to the public to our

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government officials to our president in a very emotional and visceral way so when we

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march on Friday evening parades and we have three or four thousand people come every week

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everyday citizens sometimes veterans of course and active duty service members but the majority

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of the audience are people that have no affiliation with the service and they see Marines performing

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with such precision and such dignity and such excellence and they hear that music that stirs

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the soul and in perfect cadence with what's happening with our Marines on the deck it's

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a very very special and emotional experience and people leave that parade having a greater

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admiration for those who serve a greater respect and desire to support those who wear the uniform

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and who represent our country in that special way it's the same spirit that happens all

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over the country you asked about you know bands traveling to other communities not only

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in Washington DC but all the bands have units including the president's own that go out

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on tour and share a piece of what happens in Washington and our government with communities

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all over the country you know playing in major venues like Carnegie Hall and the next day

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playing in a middle school gymnasium in New Jersey or a field house in Nebraska and you

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know thousands of people will come to these concerts and gather together in community

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with no political overtones with nothing other than the expectation of being together as

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Americans and listening to this great music and these great bands that we're so proud

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of and frankly just feeling good about our country and about what we represent and music

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is the most powerful tool to do that which is why music has been a part of the services

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since its inception the Marine Corps had music almost since its birth and it's been one of

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the most important things to preserving and illuminating that culture and I can speak

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obviously firsthand about that I was deeply engaged in that for 26 years.

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Well one of the things that we could spend a whole other show on is the history of music

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in the military from all around the nations all nations involved but one of the things

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that you got to do directing the president's own is sort of do those goodwill ambassador

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tours not just out of the White House but internationally if I understand it.

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Yeah yeah we don't travel too much internationally and most of that is because we are needed

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at the White House and so over 300 commitments a year for the president United States with

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the Marine Band over a thousand commitments a year total for the Marine Corps whether

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that's playing for full honors funerals at Arlington National Cemetery which is one of

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the most important things we do Marine Corps ceremonies tours concerts all of that happens

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in DC but every once in a while we get internationally and to bring the Marine Band in my case when

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I was director I took the band on two international tours one to Japan of course great allies

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of the United States and of the Marine Corps big Marine Corps presence in Japan since World

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War II that was an incredible tour to bring this famous ensemble to the Japanese people

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to have cultural exchanges with their armed forces bands very very special to building

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those bridges and preserving those ally ships that are so important to our country and then

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just last summer before I retired I took the band to Europe and we played concerts in Prague

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and Austria and the Netherlands to standing room only crowds and it's just such a privilege

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knowing how important music is in the American military culture to bring these ensembles

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abroad and to show that and show how that represents the excellence in our armed services

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all across all the services really very very special feelings and indelible memories that

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I just I will never forget.

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Well you also had the chance to put some of this music down on wax as they used to say

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but I'm sure it's digitally recorded now tell us about recording sessions with the with

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the president's own.

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Yeah I'll tell you a funny little story is John Philip Sousa was director from 1880 to

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1892 he left a little bit before the recording industry really kind of caught hold and Sousa

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himself was a bit skeptical of recordings because he felt like live performance was

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one of those new fan things that will never take off right.

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Yeah I think that's exactly how he felt and he wasn't wrong in the sense that live performance

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is still the best getting out to the people having live musicians interact with live audiences

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is the bread and butter of music performance but as we all know you know recordings are

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so important to sharing this art across the entire globe and so recordings has been a

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huge part of the Marine Band's legacy putting historic repertoire down onto disc that we

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can share wax cylinder originally then records then you know eight tracks and cassettes and

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now CDs and now digital and we do a lot of recording in the Marine Band not only for

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sharing for educational purposes for bands all over the world to use this great professional

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ensemble as a model for how to play core music that's important to all of us but also to

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help preserve the legacy of historic music so for instance in the Marine Band we did

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an entire complete collection of the marches of John Philip Sousa new recordings hundred

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and twenty five marches that we recorded over seven years during my directorship to share

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with music lovers and share with the schools all over the world so they could gather an

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appreciation for a lot of this music that is so central to our American artistic identity

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and a lot of music that that people don't know by the great John Philip Sousa one of our great

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composers in America and we also made all of the music available in sheet music form

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so that schools could download for free the marches of John Philip Sousa hear the Marine

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Band perform them and then perform them themselves off of the same parts so this was a great

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example of the band being a resource to to citizens you know we are paid for by the taxpayer

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dollar we consider a huge part of our mission to provide inspiration provide educational

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resources provide a model for people who are aspiring to be musicians or simply people

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who love band music and look to the president's own as the pinnacle of that well Colonel you

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had an incredible military career that we could talk on for quite a while but I wanted

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to spend a few minutes at least because you are now wearing the mantle of professor of

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music and director of bands at the University of Michigan how did a nice Colonel like you

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get talked into that job a nice Colonel like me Jim I've talked to some of my Marines I

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don't know if they agree with you well here here's the situation I told you earlier in

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our talk that I wanted to be a band director and my career as a teacher got I like to joke

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I got a little sidetracked by me winning a position with the president's own and it turned

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out to be a beautiful opportunity for me but I always knew when I was finished with the

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Marines and I was young enough when I got in that I knew I didn't want to overstay my

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welcome you know people who are in command you have the privilege of command you're you're

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really in control of so many aspects of your colleagues life those under your command and

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I felt it was important for me to pass that baton at a time when I felt like someone else

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could could continue to take the unit in a place where it deserved to go so I knew I'd

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always return to teaching I just didn't know where it was going to be when the opportunity

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came up to apply to the University of Michigan it was almost like a dream come true because

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Michigan I've always for decades had such respect for this school of music for the students

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who come out of it for the culture of the university the tradition of the university

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which of course is so important to me coming from the Marine Corps so I applied and without

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any expectation that I would be the best candidate I went through the process and it turns out

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I was and you had asked me a decade ago if I could go anywhere after my career in the

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Marine Corps where would I want to go to teach music I would have told you the University

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of Michigan for all the reasons I just said so for me to land here as my only my second

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job in my entire professional career it's unfathomable to me but I am so grateful to

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have been a part of this and to get get involved in what happens here at Michigan it is an

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exceptional institution and I'm having such a great time taking my experiences from my

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professional career and sharing them with my students.

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Well let's do one more thing before we run out of time and I want to build on the concept

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of passing the baton because those of us in the military we've all been at change of command

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ceremonies and you just recently retired and there was a change of command for the president's

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own talk to us about your change of command ceremony because you passed the baton literally.

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We did yeah and you know the change of command as you well know and all of our listeners

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who are who have served is such a sacred tradition it is our version of of the inauguration right

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it's our chance to have the peaceful transfer of power for any military unit in the Marine

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Band we take the change of command incredibly seriously because there is only one director

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of the Marine Band and we wear a very special uniform we know that the uniform of the president's

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own is unique it's the red with blue trim you know the opposite of a Marine uniform

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because musicians wore the opposite colors of battle Marines because we needed to be

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found on the battlefield quickly to signal to the troops.

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So the Marine Band uniform is red with with braiding and gold buttons 21 buttons and a

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beautiful oglet and epaulette signifying our presidential service the director of the Marine

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Band wears a solid blue black coat just like Marines but with the same decoration there's

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only one of them in the entire Marine Corps because there's only one limited duty officer

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colonel in the entire Marine Corps and that is the director of the Marine Band so there's

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only one time Jim when two individuals are wearing that black coat and that is when we

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do our change of command so we decided that this year since I was leaving in December

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rather than in the summer which is traditional that we would take the change of command to

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this huge gathering of music lovers and educators the largest gathering in the country happens

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in Chicago every year in December it's called the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic.

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We wanted to show these music lovers these teachers this sacred ceremony and so in front

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of about 5,000 people we stopped the concert in the middle and we both came out on stage

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with the command on the Marine Corps assistant coming on the Marine Corps at the time thanks

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and we did the change of command ceremony in front of these folks and we literally passed

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the baton as you said there is a baton that was given to John Philip Sousa in 1892 when

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he left the Marine Band by the men of the band in their esteem for him it's this ceremonial

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baton with a beautiful eagle globe and anchor on the top and it's inscribed to Sousa it

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lives in a hermetically sealed case all the time because it's a priceless artifact and

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we pull it out once every decade or so for our changes of command and I passed that baton

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to my successor Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Allen and then I left the stage in Chicago in front

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of all those educators and I took off my blouse and that was the last time that I'll ever

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wear that that historic uniform.

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Well it's an amazing career that you've had experiences that again most people can't even

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fathom you got on this road kind of accidentally and enjoyed it immensely and we are so happy

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you could share this so that kids out there men and women who are in the musical field

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and didn't even know you could have a musical career in the military can maybe get a little

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glimpse at this and certainly we would encourage anybody listening to any time any of the military

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bands of one form or shape or another come into town go listen you will be amazed.

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General Fettig we really appreciate the time that you've given to us and the insights that

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you shared.

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It's been wonderful to talk to you Jim and to all the Marines out there Semper Fidelis

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and to all of my new University of Michigan colleagues go blue.

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And I want to thank everybody for listening to Veterans Radio today I am Jim Fausone it's

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been a pleasure to be your host I'm a Veterans disability lawyer at Legal Help for Veterans

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and you can reach us at 800-693-4800 or LegalHelpforVeterans.com on the web.

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You can follow Veterans Radio on Facebook and listen to its podcasts and internet radio

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00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:24,000
shows by visiting us at VeteransRadio.org that's VeteransRadio.org and until next time

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you are dismissed.

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If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans Appeals contact Legal Help for

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00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:34,320
Veterans at 1-800-693-4800.

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They're experts in handling cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans claims.

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