Footdrill is a strict discipline which takes much effort and skill to perfect. It depends on teamwork and mutual effort rather than individual talent. The St. John Ambulance Brigade trains our cadets footdrill through gradual stages of difficulty, starting with the basic commands and commencing with the more complicated team manoeuvres that require much practice to perfect.
 
Footdrill mainly consists of many categories such as basic drill, dressing, pacing, sizing, turning, marching, saluting and slow march. Commands are issued in Malay. Before footdrill commands can be issued, the members must assemble in a squad by falling in in ranks of three. There is an option for falling in in ranks of one and this is the case in the National First-Aid Competition in Singapore. Note that the following examples represent only a portion of footdrill and most of the time, footdrill has to be experienced personally for one to fully understand and enjoy it.
 
Basic drill: Involves commands for issuing proper commands for different groups (sekuad for squad, baris for parade, for instance), as well as commands for telling a squad to fall in, fall out (keluar baris), stand at attention (sedia), stand at ease (senang diri) or be dismissed (bersurai).
 
Dressing: Involves commands for dressing the squad in an orderly manner, such as the commonly used 'dari kanan, ka-kanan, lu-rus' for telling the squad to take right dressing from the right, as well as 'pandang ka-hadapan, pan-dang' for 'eyes front'.
 
Pacing: For the squad to pace a number of steps to the right, left or front.
 
Sizing: This is an advanced command which is for arranging the squad in such a way that the members' heights are averaged out. This is usually done before a parade.
 
Turning: Examples of turning commands 'ka-kanan pu-sing' for a right turn, 'ka-kiri pu-sing' for a left turn.
 
Marching: The command for marching is 'dari kanan/kiri, chepat ja-lan', while there are also commands for the squad to halt ('berhenti'), right/left wheel, and marking time.
 
Saluting: A squad member salutes to his NCO/Officer or to the Singapore flag. Saluting can be done on the halt or on the march, where there is another slightly more complicated command for the member to receive articles.
 
Slow March: The normal march one sees at parades should be more properly known as 'quick march'. The slow march command given is ('dari kanan/keri, pelahan ja-han').
 
However, the goal for footdrill is not to know all commands but to make sure that one looks quick and smart. In a squad of one rank and 5 members, such as in the competition, the emphasis is to execute certain commands within a 10-minute and space limit. The members also have to watch out for things like dressing (which shows the neatness of the squad), hand-swing (whether the group marches orderly, seen by the movement of the arms and legs), and other peculiarities like whether the leg is raised high enough during a 'bang'.
 
Footdrill is a very worthwhile activity because it does not teach merely skills; it also imparts qualities like discipline, understanding and teamwork among the members. It is also a source of respect and satisfaction, especially when a team perfects a maneouvre to a common target: the sound of only 1 'bang'.

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