Well while I agree speeches should be eliminated, or at least kept to a minimum, remember to do things such as toasts (the country, to the president, to fallen soldiers, to the corps of cadets) and the benediction and invocation. My battalion also does a seperate awards night, but we give out like 15 seperate medals each accompanied by a speech by whoever presents it, plus various ribbons and commendations and such. Plus a ceremony where the CSM, BC and XO all hand over control of the battalion. So we do a lot of speeches and stuff.
About the casual dress though. I think that, yes it's important that they be able to dance, but Mil Ball is short for MILITARY Ball, hence in uniform. I know that at my school you wear your uniform, full As until we eat, then you get to dress down to Bs for the rest of the night if you want. Most schools in the area allow the female cadets to dress in gowns as well, but not ours. So it's really up to what the AI and SAI will allow. I'll update Saturday morning after mine is over and I get back home.