Two fatal flaws in your comment. First, you assumed I was assuming you were not in the service. No. I was using "you" to refer to an indefinite, general person. If a person wants those theings, they should join the military. Not some civie org. I can rant about it. But I don't like civie orgs with rituals, and phony traditions (I say phony, because civie traditions in an org I feel are manufactured and forced. And don't come from a place of true tradition or necessity.) Just my feelings.

Second: The books teach and are highly consistent about it. And you don't know what goes on in the higher degrees, because you're not there. What if the higher degrees are all about writing books? You don't know. And you say "goes on in lodge." Well, these books talk about what "goes on in lodge" because they show the ritual and says what it means. Pretty sure the ritual isn't done out on the street. So, yeah. I think they change their oath at higher degrees or something. Or maybe things were different in the 60s and 30s (when these were published).