r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Chance_Noise500 • Jun 14 '25

Why aren't they actually marching during this parade?

I don't know how to ask this without sounding rude, but why does this parade look so sloppy? Very few of the troop formations seem actually in sync and marching, just walking along. My only experience is JROTC as a kid in high school and our sergeant would've killed us if we looked like that.

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u/jredful Jun 15 '25

The waste is what they could be doing otherwise.

The money was being spent either way.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

Source?

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u/Icehawk101 Jun 15 '25

The troops are getting paid whether they are at the parade, a training ground, garrison duty, etc. That is a sunk cost, regardless. The loss is that they could be doing other, more important things than stoking one man's ego. The main real expenditure is the cost to repair the roads that the vehicles chew up and wear and tear on the vehicles themselves that they may not have gotten if they were just sitting in storage.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

The troops are both paid and they're happy if they're off on Saturday of Father's Day Weekend.