Quote Originally Posted by Ken White View Post
A British Officer might tell you that it is all to do with Foot Drill and Marching Bands - which has always been counter-productive, yet the UK persists with it for purely emotional reasons.
Sadly, the British Army is not alone in this stupidity. I've heard senior people in the US and other Armies also tout the 'benefit' of close order drill and even of bands. Asinine -- and then we wonder why people get killed unnecessarily...
While i will certainly agree that close order drill is pretty useless at present (it actually was useful in the 16th-early 19th centuries), I totally disagree on bands! (Okay, bias time here - my father played in the CF band in Korea).

First, they are actually pretty good for morale and, let's face, why contract out what you can have internally ?

Second, a really, REALLY good band means pipers.... lots and LOTS of pipers... a WMD (Weapon of Mass Deafness) that has never been outlawed by the Geneva Conventions and can (and has) been put to use with great effect in a number of both riot and battlefield conditions.