The Drilling and Marching honor grows out of a habit every Pathfinder Club of the Seventh-day Adventist Church already has: the whistle sounds two long blasts and two short ones, and the Units fall into columns and ranks. Turning that routine into a patch takes more than marching sharply in a parade. The card asks for vocabulary, command voice and care of the national flag and, at the higher levels, platoon leadership.
Here are the nine requirements of the basic honor as used in the South American Division (DSA), what the next levels ask, how testing works under the DSA's Pathfinder Club Administrative Manual, and a training plan.
What is the Pathfinder Drilling and Marching honor?
The Drilling and Marching honor belongs to the Recreational Activities area of the South American Division's Honors Manual (Manual de Especialidades), the document that sets the minimum requirements for each honor and that only the Division can revise. Its code is AR 047. According to its entry in the honors catalog, it is skill level 1 and was created by the General Conference, the church's world headquarters, in 1976.
The patch carries weight in a Pathfinder's progress. Since OMD 001/2013, a Pathfinder Ministry guideline dated August 5, 2013, drilling and marching has been off the regular Voyager card and is now requirement 10 of the advanced class Excursionista na Mata, the advanced Voyager class. The Drilling and Marching entry in the honors catalog lists the text of every requirement, item by item.
To learn each command at your own pace, use the guide to Pathfinder drill and marching, with basic commands and formations. And if someone in the family wonders about all the marching, the article on whether Pathfinders is military training explains the difference plainly.
What are the Drilling and Marching honor requirements?
The catalog entry lists nine requirements for the basic honor: five are knowledge only and four call for performing or demonstrating. Requirements 7 and 8 hold the hands-on work: 35 movements, 18 at a halt and 17 on the move, at the ordinary step.
Watch out for old material. A requirements compilation still circulating as a PDF asks you to perform "present arms". The 2020 edition of the Pathfinder Club Administrative Manual says the Club does not use that command and uses the pledge position instead, with the right hand raised to shoulder height.
For the flag requirement, the folding method the Club uses is described in section 4.4.2 of the Administrative Manual. The rules for use, the place of honor and disposal come from Brazil's Law No. 5,700 of 1971 and are explained in the guide to flag etiquette for Pathfinders.
| Requirement | What the card asks | Where to study |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Objectives | Explain at least five objectives of drilling and marching | Administrative Manual, section 4.5 |
| 2. Definitions | Define 15 terms, such as formation, rank, interval, column, cover, file closer, head and tail | Administrative Manual, 4.5.1 (Basic concepts) |
| 3. Cadence | Explain what cadence is | Administrative Manual, 4.5.1 |
| 4. Steps | Describe and perform route step, ordinary step, double time and marching without cadence | Administrative Manual, 4.5.5, and the Instructor |
| 5. Command voice | Know the three stages of a voice command | Administrative Manual, 4.5.2 |
| 6. Commands explained | Explain eight commands in detail, such as parade rest, attention, dress and as you were | Administrative Manual, 4.5.3 and 4.5.4, and the Instructor |
| 7. At a halt | Perform 18 stationary movements, from attention to fall out and at ease | Hands-on training with the Instructor |
| 8. On the move | Perform 17 movements at the ordinary step, such as mark time, column turns, change step and five steps forward | Hands-on training with the Instructor |
| 9. National flag | Explain and demonstrate how to use, display, care for and fold the flag | Administrative Manual, 4.4.2, and Law No. 5,700/1971 |
Drilling and Marching (AR 047) requirements as listed in the catalog entry; the official wording is in the DSA Honors Manual.
Where can you study for the Drilling and Marching honor without the answers?
Type the honor's name into a search engine and the suggestion "drilling and marching honor answers" pops up. That shortcut runs into a rule: the Administrative Manual bans pre-answered honors, especially those found online, and calls for study booklets with broad content, so the Pathfinder finds the answers by studying. The guide to pre-answered honors explains why.
The official material is free: section 4.5 of the Administrative Manual, a DSA PDF in Portuguese, works as a study booklet. There you learn that there are four ways to give commands (voice, whistle, bugle and hand signal), that the ordinary step averages 116 steps per minute, and that the command for steps forward always uses an odd number.
The texts change over time. The OMDs, the Pathfinder Ministry guidelines, correct the manuals (OMD 010/2015 amended the parade rest command), and the Honors Manual got a new printed edition in Portuguese in August 2025, with 370 pages, from Editora Sobre Tudo. The requirements PDF on the Arquivos Adventistas site, on the other hand, is an independent compilation from 2010.
What does the Drilling and Marching Advanced honor require?
Drilling and Marching Advanced (AR 048, skill level 2, also from the General Conference in 1976, according to the catalog) requires the basic honor and shifts the focus from the individual to the platoon.
First comes the unit pennant, the small flag each Unit carries. With it, you perform a short sequence (attention, cover, steady, right face, left face, forward march, halt and parade rest) and show when to use each position.
Then comes platoon life: being an active member of a drill platoon for at least six months, having taken part in at least two performances in the past year at a public, community or Conference event, keeping step in sync with the group, and completing four series of precision exercises, known as evolutions.
On the leadership side, the card asks you to define and give examples of the three stages of a voice command, teach the basic commands to at least four people, command the whole Club in at least ten movements, and take part in raising and lowering the national flag with a Unit.
Drilling and Marching Instructor and Drill Evolutions: what changes?
There are two more steps, created by the South American Division in 2012, according to the catalog. Drilling and Marching Instructor (AR 100, skill level 3) requires the Advanced honor and trains the people who teach: safety during practice, first aid for sprains and heatstroke, the by-the-numbers teaching method, and bringing newcomers into the group. In practice, you command a group for at least 30 minutes, serve as platoon instructor in at least three parades, and train 30 or more Pathfinders to form a Pathfinder emblem as an evolution.
The card also asks for a reflection on Joel 2:7 and 8. Verse 8, in the New King James Version, says: "They do not push one another; Every one marches in his own column." It opens a good conversation about space and respect within the group.
Drill Evolutions (Evolução em Ordem Unida, AR 110) is the creative part and, according to the catalog entry, requires the three previous honors: basic, Advanced and Instructor. The card asks you to define an evolution, present five steps for creating one, cite a Bible example, create two evolutions performed at a ceremony, documented with photos or video, and show five original evolutions with a report of 200 to 500 words. The basic, Advanced and Instructor honors are on the list for the Master Award in Recreational Activities (ME 010), which calls for seven honors from that list.
| Honor | Code | Level | Origin | Prerequisite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drilling and Marching | AR 047 | 1 | General Conference, 1976 | None |
| Drilling and Marching Advanced | AR 048 | 2 | General Conference, 1976 | Drilling and Marching |
| Drilling and Marching Instructor | AR 100 | 3 | South American Division, 2012 | Drilling and Marching Advanced |
| Drill Evolutions | AR 110 | 1 | South American Division, 2012 | Basic, Advanced and Instructor |
Data from the honors catalog entries; confirm in the current Honors Manual.
How is the Drilling and Marching honor tested?
The path to the patch follows section 4.2 of the Administrative Manual, in four steps: the Pathfinder passes the test, the Instructor signs the record or certificate, the Regional Coordinator or district leader evaluates and also signs, and the patch is presented at an honors ceremony.
The test format is up to the evaluator, with one balancing rule: an honor with more practical requirements puts more weight on practice, without neglecting theory. Since requirements 7 and 8 of Drilling and Marching add up to 35 movements to perform, expect to be watched carrying out the movements on command. For the written part, the manual suggests 25% easy questions, 50% medium and 25% hard.
The manual says that, in general, any honor fits within three months, taught in small groups and never to the whole Club at once. Practice the rule that closes the drill section too: if a command comes out wrong, nobody moves.
Incorrect commands must not be carried out.Pathfinder Club Administrative Manual, DSA, 2020 edition (translated from Portuguese)
How do you train a Unit for the Drilling and Marching honor in six weeks?
The Administrative Manual sets the training rules. Teaching starts one-on-one, and group instruction only comes once each Pathfinder can perform the movements well alone. Sessions are frequent, 30 minutes at most, and move from simple to hard.
The same passage calls for an Instructor who never ridicules anyone or uses physical punishment on someone who got it wrong, and it bans drill practice during Sabbath hours. The plan below fits into the Sunday meeting.
How does the Drilling and Marching honor count toward the DSA Camporee 2027?
The 6th South American Division Camporee takes place at Parque do Peão, in Barretos, São Paulo state, Brazil, in two editions: Alpha (January 5 to 10, 2027) and Omega (January 12 to 17, 2027). Under the Guidelines Manual (Manual de Orientações), scoring requirements are completed and documented in the SGC, the Club Management System, during 2026 and validated by the Regional Coordinator.
Requirement 20 (150 points) asks for 70% of the Club to have earned at least four honors by November 30, 2026, and Drilling and Marching can be one of them. Requirement 21 (50 points) asks for a drum corps with at least 20 instruments or a creative drill performance at a city parade or public event, with at least two Units. The full list is in the DSA Camporee 2027 requirements.
There is also an optional Creative Drill Contest worth 25 points, with registration closed on July 30, 2026.