Great photos!
The troop I was in was commanded, (literally) by a couple of retired Navy SeaBees and the outfit was run very milatary-like. We did uniform inspections, knew how to march, and when we did camp-outs, our tents were in line like they were laid out with a laser. We had all kinds of drills, had a bugler and the whole experience was great and much needed. Not sure if they do things in Scouting that way now?
The funny thing was when I was drafted during Viet Nam and joined the Navy, bootcamp was a breeze. In fact, I was one of the recuit company officers and after we graduated from boot, our company commander told me he always picked Boy Scouts for the recuit officer positions; said they always worked out the best.
Funny...I was selected as a recruit officer position in my company as well, but he didn’t know I had been a Boy Scout...must be something there!
See, some people (read: Liberals) would read your account and think very negatively on it, likening it to Hitler Youth training.
I view it as discipline, and I think kids can take to it and learn from it. The same concept as in Army, Navy or Marine boot camp where they had you doing marching drill with a rifle. As sailors, we were unlikely to ever touch a rifle, and even less likely to ever march in a formation.
But it taught us how to take commands and execute as part of a team. Same goes with your tents, buglers, inspections and so on.
Valuable stuff.