Membership and Competitions
Active membership is restricted to college students enrolled at an institution that hosts a Pershing Rifles company. Members may be either male or female and while a majority have affiliation with the military (especially ROTC), it is not a prerequisite for membership.
Each company has latitude in selecting their uniform and weapons. They vary from company t-shirt and BDU pants to more formal uniforms, like the Army's service uniforms, or "Class A's". Many companies wear berets, in a wide variety of colors. The only real consistencies within companies are the wear of a Pershing Rifles rank shield and, on dress uniforms, a shoulder cord and the Pershing Rifles Service Ribbon, which is blue with six vertical white lines, symbolic of the six core values held by a Pershing Rifleman. The W-4 Company at The College of William & Mary may wear uniforms based on those of the Scots Guards as recognition of their role as the Queens' Guard, the College's ceremonial guard unit, twice mustered upon visits by Queen Elizabeth II to the College.
Most Pershing Rifles companies use older battle rifles (especially the M1903 Springfield or M1 Garand) in performing routines. At the annual National Society of Pershing Rifles National Convention and Drill Competition (NATCON), active companies compete in various categories of regulation drill (like proficiency at performing a color guard) and exhibition drill (also known as trick drill, involving spinning or throwing the rifles).
Other Pershing Rifles companies, such as Company B-9 (University of Colorado at Boulder), Company C-9 (Colorado School of Mines), Company B-12 (Boston University) and Company C-12(ABN) (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), focus on tactical training. These companies teach their members skills such as escape and evasion, survival skills, rappelling, hand-to-hand combat, and marksmanship. Company K-4(South Carolina State University) practices and focuses on regulation D&C, and a mastery of exhibition drill.
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