Marines, mules and horses to be in parade - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Marines, mules and horses to be in parade

It looks as if the Corps’ force of pack mules and horses will get their 15 minutes of fame when they participate in next year’s Rose Parade.

The Corps’ Mountain Warfare Training Center in the Eastern Sierras recently learned that the 2010 Rose Parade’s organizing committee approved its application to join in the world-famous New Year’s Day parade. The training center that helps prepare Marines, sailors and others to fight in high-altitude, mountainous climes will send a contingent of five horses, six combat-loaded mules and a handful of Marine riders to the 121st annual parade.

Sgt. Maj. Douglas Power, who helped compile the application that filled a three-inch binder with documents, photos and biographies of proposed Marine participants, will join in the ride along with Col. Norm Cooling, the training center’s commander.

Power, the center’s top enlisted Marine, said he and his staff will prepare for the parade diligently during breaks from teaching the center’s students to operate with pack animals.

The 2010 parade will include the Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band and the Mounted Color Guard from the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow, Calif., he said.

“The whole front of the parade could be Marines,” Power said.

The parade covers a 5.5-mile route in Pasadena, Calif., lasts two and a half hours and features 27 marching bands, equestrian units and flower-covered floats, according to the Rose Parade’s official Web site.

The parade started in 1890 as a celebration of California’s mild winters. It was founded by Dr. Francis Rowland and Prof. Charles Holder, who modeled it after the Battle of Flowers in Nice, France, according to parade organizers.

The event will be broadcast on ABC, NBC, Univision, HGTV, Travel Channel, RFD-TV, Los Angeles’ KTLA and in more than 150 international territories. Last year, about 16.5 million households viewed the parade on TV, including about 40 million Americans.