Duty, Honor, Country: Alexandrians Say It With Music

(Thursday) February 4, 2010

By James Cullum
alexandrianews.org

Gunnery Sergeant Tracey Paddock (Courtesy Photo)

The President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps have listened countless times to Alexandrian Tracey Paddock. Gunnery Sergeant Paddock plays clarinet for “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, the premier band of the Corps. Joining Paddock is another Alexandrian,  Gunnery Sergeant Lacey L. Reid, the band’s administrative chief and a T. C. Williams High School graduate.

A drum major for two years, Paddock graduated from West Potomac High School in 1989 and joined the band in 1998. She is a frequently featured soloist with the Marine Band, Marine Chamber Orchestra, Marine Chamber Ensembles at the White House and across the country during the band’s annual concert tour. “I started playing in the fourth grade,” she said. “It was in the middle of a high school band rehearsal when I realized that people get paid for doing this and I asked myself, ‘Wouldn’t that be incredible?’”

Paddock earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Indiana University. As a Fulbright Scholar, she earned her master’s degree in music from the Royal Academy of Music in London. She is pursuing a doctorate in music performance from Florida State University in Tallahassee. She now lives in Occoquan with her husband, Grant Cone.

“When you’re a musician you figure the things you can do – you can be a soloist, a teacher and band musician. You have to cast your lot in all different directions and this is a great fit for me,” Paddock said. “One day we will be marching at a funeral procession at Arlington National Cemetery and then play on the White House lawn… I would like to stay my full 20 years if not longer. I can do everything I want to do as a musician in this organization.”

Gunnery Sergeant Lacey L. Reid (Courtesy Photo)

Although not musically inclined, Reid was the personnel chief for “The President’s Own” from 1997 to 2000. “In 1997 I had requested to work in D.C. When I got here they said I was going to the band, but, I was like, ‘I don’t play an instrument,’” he said. “When I left I was assigned to the Military Entrance Processing Station in Detroit, and, after a year, my former boss contacted me and asked if I wanted to come back, to work at this permanent duty station the rest of my career. I accepted. To be surrounded by so many professionals and to see the work and skill that they have exemplifies what it means to be a Marine, to do your best.”

In 1993, Reid graduated in from T. C. Williams High School. He enlisted in the Marines that same year. After recruit training in Parris Island, South Carolina, he attended Marine combat training in Camp Geiger, North Carolina and the Basic Administration Course in Camp Johnson. He is responsible for the processing of all Marine Band orders, reenlistments, retirements, maintaining service record books and auditing all pay related matters.

Reid lives with his wife, Gwen, and son, Donovan, in Clinton, Maryland. “Alexandria was a great place to grow up and go to school. I loved it,” he said. “This July will be 17 years for me as a Marine. I reenlisted last year for another six years, so I know I’m at least going to 22.”

Founded in 1798, the Marine Band is America’s oldest continuously active professional musical organization. The band has performed for every U.S. President since John Adams. Known as “The President’s Own” since the days of Thomas Jefferson, the band’s primary mission is to provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Their next performance is on Sunday, Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. at the Rachel M. Slesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center, Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria Campus.