Eagle92

Look for prior military, former scouts, and those with an interest in the outdoors. One of the new leaders in my pack, he just turned in an application in May, is really big into the outdoors. I am now not the only one in my pack with backpacking experience and gear

yep Peri is right. Met a guy who was in 4th grade who got his AOL and moved up into Boy Scout because he had an OCT bday and was 10.5 in April of his first Webelos year. It is doable.

Renax, YES IT IS! The key is to find a troop that your son is interested in and meets his needs.

Officially, the COR is the same for all units. So if a CO has a pack, troop, crew, and ship, the COR is the same for all 4 units. However I know of one instance where the CO had a pack and a troop, and had two separate CORs. I think that because the pack had one number, and the troop a different number (don't ask), it somehow got overlooked. But every CO has 1, stress 1, COR.

Ok SMART ALECK ALERT. The AOL is either a cloth badge, or a metal pin (just like the BS rank pins that are available). Arrow of Light Award, cloth, blue on khaki, No. 00044, Arrow of Light Award, metal pin, No. 00463 There are also both pocket certificates and full size ones. Additionally the Mom's pin, now called a parent's pin, can also be used as a lapel pin for non-uniform wear.

I have mixed emotions on this topic. I've seen some folks who crossed over the den in December of their second year, and they were not ready. I've seen some units still use the traditional May cross over time frame of the old 3 year CS program fro the current 5 year program, and some lose interest in Scouting, and it's just a pro forma event getting their AOL. I like the Jan-Feb of their second year time frame. It gives them 18 months to shop around for a troop, allows them gain some expereince in the outdoors by doing some den camping, as well as overnighters with troops, and, IMHO, gives them time to save up money to go to summer camp their first summer. Also it gives the new Scout, and more importantly parents, 4-5 months to become comfortable with the troop. I've found kids adapt fast, the parents, esp CS leaders, not so much. Here's my advice FWIW. 1) get a knowledgable den chief and use him. Don't let him sit on the sidelines, but let him take charge when he can. The earlier you can get a DC in the two years as a WDL, the better. 2) Start talking to SMs ASAP and start visiting meetings and going camping. If your troops won't help, then do Webelos Den Camping. 3) Don't let advancment be the focus of your program. While earning 20 WABs may seem like a big deal, a year or two down the road in Boy Scouts it won't be. 4) Keep the OUTING in ScOUTING. good luck.

Back to the topic camping, going from district to unit, etc. I served about 14 years on district committees in a few councils. Mostly in the role of OA A.C.A. or CA., but also as a commissioner and trainer. So I was doing a lot of outdoors stuff. When I went from only being on he dist. committee, to also being a CS leader, my intention was to drop some of those district responsibilities and focus on my son and my den. However there are some challenges that prevented me from doing that, and I have been working with both. There have been times when folks have dropped the ball, and someone needed to pick it up for the good of the district. There have been times when someone with expereince needed to take over a project in order to deliver thepromise we made to the Cubs. And sometimes folks are so use to you being there, that even when you are not responsible for an event, they will still look to you for guidance. As you can see, sometimes it's very hard to back away and return to just camping with a unit, whether from your own sense of responsibility to prevent seeing something important fall apart, to others looking to you for help. But it is an AWESOME feeling of just being in the sidelines and having minimal to no responsibility. Back in March wife kicked me out of the house for the weekend to attend the OA Ordeal. Said I need to have some fun camping with the big guys and not the Cubs. Since few knew I was coming, my only responibility was to help with the Brotherhood Hike, and that's it. Yes I had to help out with a few last minute things that were not expected, but it was one great weekend of not being in charge.

'Nut, Not arguing, but asking when the policy changed. Back in the day (98), I was taught that the three roles: IH, COR, and CC, were the only ones that could be held by the same person. A person in the either the IH or COR roles could hold no other positions in a unit except the CC. For example the IH could also be the COR only, or COR and CC. Ifthe IH wasn't the COR, the appointed COR could also serve as the CC. Again they could not be in any other positions. And yes, the COR is a member of both the district and council committees with full voting rights, something that is sometimes not widely known, esp. to new CORs. They have full voting rights on those committees.

Back to the topic camping, going from district to unit, etc. I served about 14 years on district committees in a few councils. Mostly in the role of OA A.C.A. or CA., but also as a commissioner and trainer. So I was doing a lot of outdoors stuff. When I went from only being on he dist. committee, to also being a CS leader, my intention was to drop some of those district responsibilities and focus on my son and my den. However there are some challenges that prevented me from doing that, and I have been working with both. There have been times when folks have dropped the ball, and someone needed to pick it up for the good of the district. There have been times when someone with expereince needed to take over a project in order to deliver thepromise we made to the Cubs. And sometimes folks are so use to you being there, that even when you are not responsible for an event, they will still look to you for guidance. As you can see, sometimes it's very hard to back away and return to just camping with a unit, whether from your own sense of responsibility to prevent seeing something important fall apart, to others looking to you for help. But it is an AWESOME feeling of just being in the sidelines and having minimal to no responsibility. Back in March wife kicked me out of the house for the weekend to attend the OA Ordeal. Said I need to have some fun camping with the big guys and not the Cubs. Since few knew I was coming, my only responibility was to help with the Brotherhood Hike, and that's it. Yes I had to help out with a few last minute things that were not expected, but it was one great weekend of not being in charge.

Every pack does something different. Some will give out a present in addition ot the patch, pocket cert, and mom's pin. Some give out a plaque. But every troop does their own thing.

Actually the COR would also be the Committee Chair, not a committee member. Since they are appointed by the IH, they can actually overrule a committee decision, and only the IH can overrule the COR. Me personally, if your unit's committee does things by voting, then I would be the CC as well, and not vote except in the event of a tie.

having just come back from a national park this weekend and staying at a national forest this past April, here are my comments. 1) They are a great resource and love using them with the family. Good hook to get the 3 and 5 year onto camping. The places I stayed both had bathroom faciltiies, firering, tent pad, and latern pole already set up. national forest even had showers. 2) I rather go in the "off season," not in the middle of summer with everyone and their mother around. It got a little interesting with lots of folks this weekend. 3)Don't wear tan shirt and green pants/shorts. I had folks thinking I was a ranger and askign me questions. And no I wasn't wearing my Smokey Bear either

Scouting and Politics should not mix.

I know that at the school I went to, if you were on a sports team or band, attendance was part of your grade for a class. If you played a sport, then practice was your PE class during the season and training, and the normal slot for PE was a "free period" to do HW, goof off, etc. However once the season was over, you attended regularly scheduled PE classes. Ditto the band, except depending upon which bands you were a member of, you may also have to attend a class as well. We had a regular marching band, concert band, play band (for the school's musicals), jazz band, and a MCJROTC Band. Some of those guys never got a break, and with the exception of the MCJROTC band, your music grade was based upon the attendance at events.

TL, At one time the BSA did have an activity shirt and activity uniform. Not very popular and doen away with.

HM, In my expereince Base is rigt in that I have found it is harder for WDLs and other CS leaders to step back in a youth run troop than parents at times. IMHO part of the problem is that CSDLs are trained multiple times, i.e TCDL level, CSDL ( and twice at the CSDL if you look at the online training) and WDL level to take charge and organize. Kinda hard to overcome that training IMHO. I hope that when the time comes, I remember to take the "AL BUNDY APPROACH TO BEING AN ASM" To quote Master Yoda, CS leaders moving to Boy Scouts "... must unlearn what you have learned."

Would the summer camp and HA base being on the same scout reservation work? East Carolina Scout Reservation has both Camp Boddie, formerly known as Camp Bonner South, and the Pamlico Sea Base. Camp Boddie has your traditional summer camp offerings. Pamlico Sea base is on the reservation about 1/4 mile away from Boddie's reception center. Offers a nice program http://www.eccbsa.org/Camping/Camp%20Boddie.aspx http://www.eccbsa.org/Camping/Pamlico%20Sea%20Base

Moose, Understand now, and agree. BP, 110% spot on.

Eng Depends. Public school I'm not to sure about. Depending upon the private school, he could be kicked out or asked to not return at the end of the year. Or an investigation could be launched.

Two stories, both anecdotal, but for me it's abotu "Being Prepared." First story is about a service member deployed over seas. His unit is going to live in tents, and a few of the plastice sliders break. So he comes to the platoon sgt.'s attention when he starts tieing tauntline hitches. Ended up teaching the knot to everyone. Second story is a bit unbeleivable, but I believe I read it in SCOUTING. An astronaught had to deal with a broken robotic arm on the shuttle. Contacted mission control about it, and stated he could fix it with a lashing he learned in Scouts. Mission control said they would get back to him on how to fix it. After the safety engineers on earth tried various methods to solve the problem, they agreed that the lashing would be the best way to fix the problem until they could get back to Earth.

Moose, Beleive me I understand the chain of command. I know that things like this need to get reported to the SE or his designated representative ASAP. I stress designated rep because there are a few situation where you need to go to someone else, i.e. camp, when the SE is out of town or unavailable, etc. That's why I reported my incident to the CD. I know when I had to deal with a situation at camp one year, situation was dealt with by the CD and myself, then I informed the SE.

Me personally, I see getting the AOL as just the beginning. Let's face it, yes Cubs is fun, but it's when you get to Boy Scouts that you get away from mom, dad, and overeager leaders like myself, and start doing things on your own, learning from your peers, and challenging yourself. At least that was my expereince. But there are a lot of parents who do see the AOL as an ending point. Heck at one time National Supply sold AOL belt buckles like the Eagle ones, which in my mind kinda emphasized that opinion. Also let's face it not every troop is a hiking and camping one, not every troop is youth led, and it's seena s a "Webelos III" and the kids don't want it. Also I've seen a lot burn out with Scouting, as well as poor Webelos to Scout transitions.

Eng, This is a very, stress VERY, delicate area. Yes adults need to ask questions, and I strongly recommend 2 adults via YP, but it needs to be done privately and with respect to the youth. One reason why I think the adults handled it wrong: they made a very PUBLIC affair of it. Now it is going through the troop like wildfire. I don't think anyone on the boards is trying to say to "keep it in the family" or sweep it under the rug. Rather they are saying that the matter should be handled in a private way to respect the privacy of the scout involved. Trust me even if the rumor is 110% incorrect, the thought does linger for a long time. The guy who had his pictures taken while in the shower that I mentioned previously still had people thinking he was gay 3 years after the event took place. When the youth staffer approached me about being propositioned by the other youth staffer, I took a walk around camp, out of my trading post, so that we could chat privately and not have to worry about others overhearing stuff, being interrupted, or having the youth staffer in question know what was going on since he worked in my trading post. Again this was in respect to the YOUTH's privacy who approached me. In regards to the youth who had the accusations made against him, no one, repeat NO ONE, on camp staff except the CD, the youth who was approached, and myself knew why he was leaving, and we all kept our mouths closed on the matter. Again it was a matter of respecting his privacy. Like I said already he applied for camp staff the following, and was accepted until the DSS found out before the contracts were sent out and said "NO."

In my neck of the woods, we do not need to push to much on the idea of Cubs doing camping on the Cub leaders, mostly parents. BUT you sometimes want to do some unScoutlike things like whacking the head with you walking stave of a Boy Scout, Venturing, or council leader who says," Cubs don't need to go camping," "they don't know how to camp," "Cub parents pack everything but the kitchen sink," "Parents think they can just drive right up to their campsite," ad nauseum. Sad thing is some of those folks making those comments are doing the exact same thing they complain about, and are not setting the example. Kinda funny when the guy with blue loops has everything for his camp promo display in his pack or in his hands and walks from the parkign lot to the display area, while the folks with red, green, and silver loops drive up the display area, park their cars, and unload. But I digress. Part of the problem is stagnation. Part of that is solved by doing different activities with little to no repetition. Now grant you you gotta do some things that the scouts want, or they will be a revolt (trust me that happened at my CSDC with the Webelos) but change things up. SOme things you do NOT want to mess with: #1 Fishing ( that's where the revolt came from) #2 BB Guns #3 Archery.

Don't know the policy number, but it's been around for a while, since 1987 that I know of. I was registered in 2 troops, 1 was my primary troop, one was for combined jamboree and HA trip. No advancement was done in the second one, but everythign we did could be used by the regular troop, and the DAC was an ASM on the trip. Also I was multiple in a Scout Troop and a Sea Scout Ship. Know lots of folks who are multiple registered in units.