Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps
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| Location | Rockford, Illinois |
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| Division | World Class |
| Founded | 1956 |
| Director | Rick Valenzuela |
| Championship titles | 1996 (tie), 2008 |
| Uniform | 2016: Jacket w/white top, collar, left sleeve (black chevrons), black pauldron on right shoulder, black right sleeve & jacket bottom. Black trimmed white gauntlet. Black and silver sequined baldric w/red accent, White pith helmet w/silver chains, badge & white plume. White pants White shoes & socks. |
The Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps (commonly referred to as "Phantom") is a World Class (formerly Division I) competitive junior drum and bugle corps based in Rockford, Illinois, USA. The corps is a long-standing member of Drum Corps International (DCI), having been a DCI World Championship Top Twelve Finalist every year since 1974 and DCI World Champions in 1996 and 2008.
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The corps was founded in 1956 by members of the Col. Thomas G. Lawler VFW Post 342 who wanted a local competitive drum corps. Under the direction of Alex Haddad, the corps was provisionally named the Rockford Rangers with all-boy drums and bugles sections and an all-girl color guard to be named the Rangerettes. However, when many of the charter members were impressed by the recording of the Syracuse Brigadiers performing the Leroy Anderson composition The Phantom Regiment, the corps' name was changed before the unit made its debut, with the color guard renamed the Phantomettes.
In the corps' early years, the Phantomettes and a corps-sponsored all-boy color guard called the Raiders were competitively successful. The drum and bugle corps, however, struggled for its first few years.. In 1962, the corps bought a set of high quality bugles that had belonged to the Commonwealth Edison Knights of Light Drum and Bugle Corps which had folded two years earlier. With the new instruments and a new brass arranger, the corps began to improve. The old set of bugles went to the newly formed Phantom Regiment Cadets.
Despite the Phantomettes having placed second at the 1962 color guard national championships, in 1963, Phantom Regiment fielded an all-male corps, including the color guard. When scores fell behind those of the previous season, the Phantomettes returned to the corps for 1964. With the girls back in the corps, successful recruitment, and new uniforms, the corps had its best season until that time, including a finish of 15th among 45 corps at the VFW National Championship preliminaries in Cleveland. The Phantomettes were honored in the graphic on the City of Rockford's 1964 vehicle registration stickers. But on August 21, 1964, Regimental Hall, the corps' home was badly damaged by a fire. The organization was forced to sell its instruments and uniforms to pay off its debts.
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