The Oblique March
Categories: SCHOOL OF THE SQUAD
Military Handbooks: The Plattsburg Manual
For the instruction of recruits, the squad being in column or correctly
aligned, the instructor causes the squad to face half right (or half
left), points out to the men their relative positions, and explains that
these are to be maintained in the oblique march.
1. Right (left) oblique, 2. MARCH.
Each man steps off in a direction 45 degrees to the right of his
original front. He preserves his relative position, keeping his
shoulders parallel to those of the guide (the man on the right front of
the line or column), and so regulates his steps that the ranks remain
parallel to their original front.
At the command halt, the men halt faced to the front.
To resume the original direction: 1. Forward, 2. MARCH.
The men half face to the left in marching and then move straight to the
If at half step or mark time while obliquing, the oblique march is
resumed by the commands: 1. Oblique, 2. MARCH.