Participating in the Battalion Drill Team is merely one of many activities available to Midshipmen at the University of Missouri. The primary purpose of conducting close order drill is to teach Midshipmen, through repetition and practice, how to carry out orders instantly and in the proper manner.  The discipline gained through close order drill provides the groundwork from which Midshipmen will continue to build upon throughout their involvement in the university’s Midshipmen Battalion.  Moreover, close order drill provides a proven method to enable young men and women to develop their confidence and leadership abilities.  All members of the Drill Team participate in the platoon-sized event, and from those Midshipmen, a select few also function as members of a squad, and/or color guard in separate competitive events. In order to become, and remain proficient in close order drill, participation in Drill Team activities does require some dedication and self-sacrifice, qualities most incoming Midshipmen already posses.  However, those attributes are rewarded through two or more culminating events each semester in the form of Drill Meets.  The Drill Meet provides and opportunity for Midshipmen to perform and compete against other universities.  The University of Missouri does not host these events, therefore, Midshipmen in a sense, earn, through their dedication, a trip to another university for competition.  Past meets took place at the University of Wisconsin, Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the University of Colorado.