My troop leaders were mostly yahoos but I read the manual, got the Boys’ Life mag, I was into it for myself. I was good at senior patrol leader stuff for the younger scouts.
I was surprised when I went to a Scout convention that was East Coast I think. I’m from NJ (in FL now) and I was surprised that some troops were practically militarized, like mini militia. Totally different character. We were all about the camping, first aid, be a good person type stuff. So I guess all troops had their own flavor.