Eagle92

In these parts, the uniform inspection is done with the Boy Scouts only, at the district camporee, and is an event run by the commissioners usually, every now and then the commissioners organize it, but someone else does the actual inspection and scoring. No one really cared about the Cub Scouts though. COOLEST inspections were the District Uniform Inspection and Museums Day in my district growing up. Every unit got together at one location that had a meeting area, and a bunch of museums. Whether you had a complete uniform or not, you got a patch, and that patch was your admission ticket to the museums in the area for that day.

Depending upon the size of your unit and the skill level, an SPL may or may not be needed. Small units, new units, etc probably not. I'd use a modified version of Green Bar Bill's training 3rd. Ed. SMHB . I'd modify it a bit to use more current outdoor skills. Larger units can benefit IMHO.

Moose, In response to your question, look at the problems MA is having, i.e long waits, not enough physicians etc. Or you can look to Canada, the UK, and other nations with socialized medicine. In fact there was a lawsuit that went to the Canadian Supreme Court in regards to Canadians having private insurance to supplement Canadacare. Long story short the Canadian Supreme Court in it's written verdict said that Canada's socialized medicine IS killing people, and Canadians have the right to have private insurance to get speedier service, i.e. the private insurance pays and the citizen pays a copay or deductable. A French healthcare commission was actually looking ay the US model to help solve their problems. As for what will happen, I'm going to make predictions. 1) healthcare cost will skyrocket, not drop. There are a variety of reasons that it will happen. 2)There will be a greater physician shortage in some fields. two reasons for that include A) as it stands now the government has a scale that they use for payments, with specialists making more than GPs, hence a shortage. B) Folks will get so frustrated with the BS, that they will retire, encourage others not to go into medicine, or find another adjunct field like medical consulting. This will increase costs. 3) Everytime medical payments get cut, hospitals, clinics, and physicians will start charging more to recuperate some of the money lost. Why do you think healthcare is already expensive? A lot of hospitals right off debt, and in CA there is a problem of hospitals losing so much money that they close. 4) More examinations, tests, etc. Ok some of the testing occuring is fear on the physicians' of being sued. I've heard that from physicians, and watching CSPAN one night, that was discussed as part of the healthcare a year or so back by the president of the AMA in testimony to Congress. BUT they also get paid for those exams, and using those exams and tests during an office visit will result in a different medical code being used for billing purposes. 5) Long waits for visits, and surgery. Don't believe me, look at other places with socialized medicine. heck it's bad enough now that when I try to contact my physician to get an appoint to take care of something in a hurry, he refers me to immediate care. It will only get worse. 6) Medical advancements will slow down when it comes to the rubber hitting the pavement. Don't believe me, ask Liam Niessan about it. His wife died in Canada b/c a machine that is in every US hospital is not available at every Canadian hospital. His wife had a head injury and didn't have an exam done because the hospital didn't have the equipment, but it is SOP in an ED in the US. 7) Rationing. We already have shortages of certain meds b/c of government regs on the drugs. BUT IT WILL GET WORSE. Best example is the one above, i.e 2 in-house specialists, a consulting specialist, and the specialists' national organization all recommend that if ABC is occuring, then do XYZ as the latest scientific evidence supports the XYZ procedure. BUT the government said the procedure was not necessary, and wouldn't pay for it. Luckily the patient had the procedure done and was OK, but the hospital and physicians were not paid for it. BUT if this was to happen more and more, you can bet that the best practices will not be used, and patients will suffer. I admit I'm a bit biased as I work in a hospital. I know healthcare is expensive, and I know some of the costs are worth it, i.e. continuing education, records keeping, equipment upgrades, etc. But a lot of the high costs are a result of government regulations and practices.

One of the things that may help is the following. 1) Have the PLs, ASPL, SPL, and other older Scouts responsible for the T-2-1 sign offs. Now you got to "Train them, Trust them, LET THEM LEAD" as Green Bar Bill would say, but in my experience if you instill a set of expectations in the older scouts, and also instill in them a sense of responsibility for the younger scouts, the SCOUTS will be your quality control. ASIDE: one reason why I don't like NSPs, there is only one older scout to serve as PL or Guide, and it's really better is it's one-on-one or two-to-one in regards to new scout to older scout. 2) I know of one troop that won't let you be an ASM right off the bat, you need to be an MC for a year so that you get trained and get an understanding of the troop culture.

here's the link, third box down http://scouting.org/training/adult.aspx

I can tell you right now, if we go to a single payer system, we will have MAJOR problems recruiting and keeping physicians. I personally know of physicians getting so fed up with CMS and insurance companies, that as soon as they can retire, if they haven't already, they will. I know of practices that no longer accept Medicare/Medicaid patients. I know of physicians that are so tired of dealing with the beauracracy that they are selling their practices to become employees of larger healthcare organizations. And don't get me started on the hospital side of things. We have a department whose only purpose is to handle denials. In fact there are 3rd party companies out there that hospitals can hire to handle the denial process. But what really steams me is when there is a denial by someone in the gov. with no background in that specialty, denying payment b/c it's not an "acceptable procedure" with the government, when it is an evidence-based procedure that 2 specialists wanted done, a 3rd party company that reviews procedures and handles denials said is appropriate, AND the national organization of specialists states in their latest guidelines that "if ABC happens, then do XYZ procedure as the latest studies show....." Sorry to rant. EDITED: Forgot to add, in one of the journals we get, sorry I cannot remember the exact one but I think it's WebMB, there was a survey of physicians that have been out of med school and practicing for a few years, i think it was 5 or less, who have stated that the consensus was that if they knew now all the BS they would have to deal with prior to applying to med school, they would not do it. In fact some would quit their practice if they didn't have all the loans. AND some have found ways to quit practicing, usually as consultants.(This message has been edited by Eagle92)

Very mixed emotions on this one. As y'all know, I've been a pro, and I've been in several councils. I've seen the good the bad and the "OH MY THAT'S UGLY" Nationally, while some of the rules are totally bogus IMHO, i.e. no lazer tag, no tuna can stoves, etc, because we are a national organization that accepts a diverse group of folks that is under multiple legal jurisdictions, I can understand why some of th e rules came about. As for customer service at the local level, I've found it to be a combination of the district/council volunteers and professional staff. Let's face it the attitude of the SE set the tempo. If you have an SE that is only interested in being #1 in his category for the 3 M's: Money, Membership, and Manpower, you will have problems. I've met, known, and worked for SEs like that. BUT when you got an SE that focuses on what the Scouts, parents, and leaders want it makes a world of difference. The council I grew up in had one of the former and the council had problems. When he left we had one focused on the youth and it made a world of difference. Was he perfect, no. Where there some issues between him and leaders, yes. BUT there was a respect for him because the leaders in the field knew what his focus was, knew he cared, and trusted him. One reason why I am glad of the SE my council has now, and hope he doesn't go anywhere soon. Do some leaders have issues with him, sure. I've heard some complaints. BUT overall we know where his heart is, and also know that some of the challenges the council is facing has affected some of his plans. Yes he is a pro and is concerned about the 3 M's, but he also realizes the importance of scouting in the lives of folks and why program is so important. But also the district level folks make an impact. Y'all know the problems my district have in regards to one volunteer essentially destroying the CS program over the years. We got challenges are ahead, and hopefully we can get a team in place to improve the situation.

Nut, That can be argued (classical definition of the word). In older BSA literature, mastery of the requirements was expected and expressed in the BSHBs. That does imply long term knowledge of the skill. Currently GTA states that the rank badge represents what the scout CAN do, not what he had done. So a scout wearing a Life badge SHOULD be able to do the skills for everything he has earned For more details see the discussion Fred and I had a few months back on the topic.

Well the Catholic Church is not the only one concerned about the law now. A Protestant association, sorry cannot remember which one, that also has outreach programs and universities that will be affected by the contraception and abortion mandates has also spoken out against it. While this group is not as large as the Catholic Church, they are also raising awareness and protesting ti on the same grounds. Also I read somewhere that 7 states are now suing over the mandate. Their argument is similar to the others, and they say their are affected by it since it appears that religious organization may drop insurance coverage, forcing many to get onto state programs, hence increasing the money spent by the states on these programs.

Good question, I have no idea. But maybe they would wear the medal? I know at Ordeals, I see one young man with his medal on, and he may come from a troop that wears the pins. Me personally I wish the following: A) all the rank pins corresponded to the size of the emblem on the patch B) Scout wore their rank pin instead of the First Class Scout Rank Pin, which is still resatricted if memory serves BUT is also the only pin scouts can wear on Smokeys and Expedition hats.

While I will be generalizing, please bear with me. It does deal with parents interfering with the scouts and how it can cause major problems. My troop planned a major trip to a military park for some great hiking. He planned to do it for a year: going over info, organizing additional activities besides the hikes, going over the history of the battle, etc. Because it was a long trip, 7+ hours one way, and there were some CS and family appropriate things and trails to do, it was decided to make this into a family event since we had a bunch of CS siblings. MISTAKE! Now the scouts prepared for the trip as we normally do, and were ready for inclement weather. PLs called their scouts to make sure they watched the weather and had what was needed cold wet weather. And all of the scouts were ready. We wanted this trip! Problem was that the CS and siblings were capable of doing the hike in the cold wet weather. We started out, but within a 1/2 we got pulled into the cars b/c the siblings were complaining that it wasn't far that big brother could do it and they couldn't. Scouts were not happy. An adult came up with the idea of driving around, and getting out the car at the various stops to do the activity at that stop. It was a mess, parents complained that the cars were getting wet, siblings were complaining that they couldn't have fun, and it ended up with us leaving the park and staying in the gym of the church we got to use. Long story short it was the absolute worse trip ever in my scouting career, and ticked off so many scouts that WE decided to never again to include families. We did not want the parents ruining our trip b/c they either didn't think we could do something that we we were not only able to do, but have done before, or they didn't want to upset the siblings. It wasn't until all the scouts of that fiasco had either aged out and move along in their lives, or like me was a leader, did we EVER have another family activity. I guess what I am trying to say is that the SCOUTS want independence. The SCOUTS want to do things without the parents. The SCOUTS need to do the things that they want to do. And parents do need to take a step back an watch. If there is a concern, ok don't let the scout go on the trip, or if you don't like the troop, join another. But do not ruin it of the other scouts. IMHO, it is very, stressing VERY, hard for CS leaders to move up and become BS leaders. let's face it, you've been trained for 2,3,5 years to take charge, organize, and do things with your scouts. to paraphrase YODA, they have much to unlearn. Heck even I do. Last time I visited a troop camping, one of the scouts accidentally cut himself. Instinctively, I pulled out my FA kit, got the scout over to me, and bandaged it up. When I realized what I did, not letting a patrol member do it, I apologized to the SM, who laffed and said "Don't let the SPL see you doing that." And I hope that when oldest becomes a BS in about 2 years, I will remember the all important question, "Have you asked your Patrol Leader?"

Base, In regards to calendars, have your PLC look for patterns in school calendars, i.e. SATs are always these weekends, Proms tend to be these weekends, etc. My PLC had to deal with over 14 different school calendars, in the New Orleans area you did your best to send the kids to parochial and private schools, even if you worked for the public school system like my mom, friends' moms, and an ex-girlfriend's parents who were principles. When we carefully reviewed the schedules one time form the year before and the current year, we noticed some patterns. Only time they patterns were broken up were by Mardi Gras, and Easter. Otherwise it was pretty standard. Now we couldn't please everyone, but we were able to get the most folks to actuivities as we could.

Almost forgot From the Insignia Guide Arrow of Light Award, cloth, blue on khaki, No. 00044,Webelos Scout, below left pocket. Arrow of Light Award miniature pin, No. 00115, civilian wear. Arrow of Light Award, metal pin, No. 00463, Webelos Scout, below left pocket. Arrow of Light metal miniature pin, No. 00115, parents, civilian wear. http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Media/InsigniaGuide/05B.aspx

Must respectfully disagree with you CC. Yes I'm one gizzled vets with 30 years in ( GREAT SCOUT IT'S BEEN 30 YEARS NOW?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I don't feel that old ) Unless there are other issues, i.e. medical, emotional, psychological, etc most Crossovers are ready to begin things on their on with experienced PL and Jr leaders to work with them. This is a natural part of the growing up process. I have seen to often well intentioned parents, especially those that served as CS leaders, that no only hurt their own sons in the long term, but also cause problems for the rest of the troop. I've written about one example that irritated the troop so badly because the parents involved ruined something that we had planned for a year and spent 14+ hours round trip to do, that the scouts said NO MORE. But what do I know?

I agree with the above. However, I do know some folks have been gifted with older flaps with the express intention of them wearing them. This was very common in my lodge as we not only have restricted patches, but they had the honor borders, and they did not have Ordeal flaps at all after one point. So some folks got the older Ordeal flaps from family and friends. Also my lodge still keeps the restriction, must do 7 hours of work AS A MEMBER, so candidates still do not get one (don't ask I do not like that, but at least they don't have to wait 10+ months anymore to get a flap). So I've seen some folks gift lodge flaps to new members, heck I've been known to do that. Hence the gifted patch. Also prior to the restriction on honor borders, I know some new Vigils would receive an older Vigil flap from their sponsor. or sometimes Vigil friends.

Either way is acceptable. Originally, BS ranks were pins, they are still available, and some units use the pins instead of badges. VERY INTERESTING situation arose when national stated that all Scouts could wear the FC Rank pin on the expedition and campaign hats as teh FC rank pin IS advancement and IS restricted. You need an advancement report to get one. At least when I worked for supply. Anyway, since the AOL can be worn with the BS rank, a pin was made for those units that still use the pins. Both are worn in the same position, and it doesn't matter which one to use. Just don't use the gold mother's pin for the rank

Here's what counted for adavancement back in the day. Service projects Patrol Hikes Patrol Shopping Troop fundraisers Troop Hikes Camp outs COHs (usually not on the same nite as our meetings) ECOHs Scout Shows.

Growing up usually 8-9 camp outs under canvas, 1 wilderness survival, and sometimes 1 activity where we stayed in a hall of some sort, usually the Thanksgiving trip where we did some serious hiking. Not including summer camp, winter campOA activities, HA training, or Jambo training

I admit I am a scouting addict. Scouting has been good to me, no VERY good to me, and I enjoy giving back. I have served in various capacities and done all kinds of things. But there were three instances when I started turning into the cranky one. I started getting frustrated with the situation, and I was dreading doing the jobs. Two were as a professional. First time it was the wife giving me an ultimatum that got me to see I needed to get out. Good news was that it didn't affect kids. Second time, I caught myself getting into cranky mode, and I redirected. grant yo that entailed a new career path. But it was a very good decision. The last time was as a volunteer doing something I loved. But over time the responsibilities kept getting heavier and heavier. Yep it took me 2-4 months to finally step back once I realized I needed to move on. But the time was spent lookign for a replacement. The key is trying to redirect folks utilizing their strengths. As a pro I had to have a heart to heart with someone. The person was doing too much, being a CM, CS RT Commissioner, CS activities, and day camp. She was so spread thin that she was not doing a good job with any of them. I had to tell her to she really needed to back down from some responsibilities and spend more time focusing on one, maximum 2 things. Bad news was that I left shortly after the conversation.

Again thank you to everyone.

Hi AD. I need to relearn how to do things. I was his den leader for all these years and when it came time for the boys to work on a Webelos Activity Pin (or anything) I could plan it out, spend the time teaching the boys or just my son and sign off on it. How does it work in Boy Scout Troops? Actually you need to unlearn as Yoda would say. There are some VERY BIG differences between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. And while variations may exist, the general consensus is that the Scout is responsible for his own advancement, does it at his own pace, and he needs to be on his own with his patrol to both succeed AND FAIL (emphasis, not shouting) in order to grow physically, mentally, and morally. While BSA does not have any national policies regarding parents signing off on son's advancement in Scouting, the SM is the one in charge of who signs off and which MBCs a scout uses, and is the "gatekeeper." In the troops I've been in and worked with, with very rare exceptions and to be honest I can only think of 1 case, MBCs do not sign off MBs for their sons, nor do leaders sign advancment for their kids. The one exception I know about was for an Atomic Energy/ Nuclear Science MBC and a small group of Scouts. Oh one other, at summer camp teaching classes. In regards to regular advancement, same thing. I know of excellent SMs who refused to have anything advancement related with their sons: no conferences, no sign offs, etc because they did not want ot give the appearance of favoritism. Also part of teh advancement process is to get them use to interaction with adults, and having dad or mom sign off defeats the purpose. Also sometimes leaders have harder standards for their kids than teh rest of the group. I know my son gets that form me on occasion. Besides being a new scout, he needs to focus on the basics, T-2-1. And IMHO his PL, SPL, and other older scouts should be the ones signing off. ONE MORE THING! The key thing you MUST LEARN NOW is the question, "Have you asked your Patrol Leader?"

And I give you Dakota Meyer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Meyer Ralph Henry Johnson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_H._Johnson Ricardo C. Binns http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_C._Binns Willie L. Copeland, III http://www.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=3656#%22MilitaryTimes%20Hall%20of%20Valor%22 Shall I continue?

JoeBob, I'm actually NCS certified to be a CD or PD, same cert is good for both positions. The problem I have is that I have a Tiger going to camp this summer, as in he joins the BSA 1 June 2012, and Tigers need partners. Like Short, NCS was very beneficial as I was new to the position. Grant you a lot of the topics I have some knowledge of, but it is an intense week, got lots of great advice and caught up on the times.

I can think of a reasons why a SM would not sign a blue card approving a Socut to use a particular MBC. 1) The SM knows that the MBC is lax in advancement. 2) SM does not know the MBC well enough to OK using them. 3) SM knows of a better MBC and wants the scout to use that one. #3 happened to me, I needed FA MB to get First Class, and the SM wanted me to wait to summer camp and use the counselor their, and I am glad I waited. Best class ever.

St.C, Good question. Here is the official website with Training Updates, and as you can see, this was just put in place this week. The Updates were once monthly, but pro and volunteer changes, it's now either bi-monthly or quarterly. As to why FB, believe it or not there was a lot of negative feedback on the topic when it was announced. See some threads here and on other sites. Someone mentioned that the training folks have a FB page, and I joined. Very much coincidence.