I gave first thoughts on reading your post, Craig, and have no quarrel with any structured activity that teaches responsibility, sportsmanship, provides a sense of belonging to and being a part of school or country.

It doesn't have to be one or the other: teaching responsibility and how to shoot and learning to read with comprehension from classics, manuals, microfiche, catalogues required to open so many other avenues.

Taking Grade 12 in the province's largest high school, I spent every Friday afternoon the cadet rifle team in indoor .22 rifle ranges and some Saturdays on the 500-yard outdoor range with .303 Lee-Enfields.

Cadets competed in the city-wide Friday night Garrison League competitions with army and navy, RCMP and city police, and annually in the Earl Roberts Memorial Shoot for British Commonwealth cadets.