Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps
Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps & Color Guard logo
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| Location | Milwaukee, WI |
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| Division | World Class |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Director | Roman Blenski II |
| Championship titles | Class A60: 1991 Division II: 1994 & '95 |
| Uniform | White jacket w/Orange & Black baldric Dark green pants White gauntlets w/orange trim White combination hat w/orange trim-ribbon & a large shamrock badge |
| Website | http://www.pioneer-corps.org |
The Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps & Color Guard is a World Class (formerly Division I) competitive junior drum and bugle corps. Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Pioneer is a member corps of Drum Corps International (DCI).
Pioneer traces its roots to the St.Patrick's (Catholic) parish of Milwaukee and its drum and bugle (D&B) corps, the Imperials of St. Patrick, founded in 1961, although some have said that the actual founding of the corps was the start of the Thunderbolts of Cedarburg, Wisconsin in 1953.(See Note A) Both corps had been active in the Milwaukee area and the Midwest region, and both attended the inaugural DCI World Championship prelims in Whitewater, Wisconsin in 1972, with the Imperials of St. Patrick finishing in 19th place and the Thunderbolts in 28th.
By 1973, the Imperials were facing financial difficulties, and the Thunderbolts were having difficulty maintaining support staff, so the two corps merged. This resulted in a 150 member corps that was not only much larger than most drum corps of that time, but one that had both financial and staff stability. Unable to decide on a better name and wearing the vastly different uniforms of both corps, the new corps was called "The Thing" during its first season. In 1974, the corps received the sponsorship of the Pioneer Container Corporation and found a name.
While not initially a power, Pioneer became a regular competitor in the Midwest region during the remainder of the 1970s, and in 1978, the corps was one of the founding members of Drum Corps Midwest (DCM) which was to become the premier regional circuit in North America over the next quarter century. The corps also started a cadet feeder corps, known as Pioneer II, and in 1985, when the primary corps went inactive, Pioneer II began a transition into becoming Pioneer in 1986. By 1989, Pioneer had started to become a power in Class A60. In 1991, the corps won both the DCM Division III (DIII) title and the DCI Class A60 World Championship; in 1992, they won their 3rd DCM DIII championship but finished second in DCI DIII to the Mandarins.
In 1993 Pioneer, moved into Division II (DII), where the corps was an immediate challenger for the championship. The corps was DCM DII champions four consecutive years, 1993-96. In 1994, the corps was undefeated and won the DCI DII crown. They defended their DCI title in 1995, but in 1996, fell in finals to Quebec's Les Etoiles by two tenths of a point. Pioneer moved to Division I (DI) in 1997, and have continued to compete in that division (now known as World Class), where the corps' best finish at the DCI World Championships was 16th place in 2000. Although Pioneer won the DCM DI title in 2004 and 2005, making them the only corps to win DCM titles in 3 divisions; the most prominent corps had abandoned DCM by then, and there were no other competitors for the DI titles.
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