Eagle92

Base, Don't worry about the one good one. For the most part he stayed out of it by helping out in one of the areas. Which leads to an inteesting siutation The under 18 staff in that area hid him when the unit was packing up to leave, and the director didn't know b/c he was part of the group looking for the missing scout. The staffers thought theat if the group left and he was still there, he would be allowed to stay. Didn't happen. But the area director knew he had helped out the previous 2 days, and the CD had heard good thing about him, despite him hiding in orde to avoid leaving, and when I and another staffer brought him home, we talked to the parents handed them an application for Winter Camp staff and the following summer staff app saying we wanted him back. As for the trip wires, they were not placed around their campsite, but another unit's campsite. SM was a vet who after an incident decided to do that. they couldn't find out who did whatever it was that happened, and he wasn't too communicative on the matter.But somone form another campsite snuck in after hours, and the trip wires, cans etc prevented it form happening again Pack, If you work staff for 6 years, you see a few things. Still wished I would have seen first hand the jeep on jacks instead of pics of it.(This message has been edited by eagle92)

Yep any gray will do. I still got my 1998 shorts and pants that I wear still. My official shorts, the ones I was required to wear when I worked for supply, are long gone. Official pants are still hanging in there.

Sailing, NAVMC 2691 was being used in my neck of the woods in the early 90s. Since it is the standard Navy drill manual, I just assumed it was used everywhere. E My camp staff rotated amongst themselves who would do the colors. We were fortunate in that we had a crusty old retired Marine SgtMaj on staff who worked with us during staff week to get the ceremony down pat at camp, and every staffer was expected to be able to do it. NO ONE wanted to let him down. Cranky yes, demanding yes, but if you needed help he'ld go out of his way to help ya, and everyone loved him. You did NOT disappoint "Sarge."

Base, CO didn't disband the troop, but did kick out all the members, including the one good one. Long story short it was part of SCOUTREACH, kids who really needed Scouting, but they were not scouts for very long. The various sheriffs in the council got together to incorporate Scouting into their outreach programs,and those units usally came to camp at the same time. Most units were no problem, and heck it was fun. But that one unit caused problems. You know it's bad when their closest neighbor decides to post leaders as sentries, have tripwires surrounding the campsite with cans to get people's attention, and the leaders and older scouts were doing fire watches at nite. We actually had staffers stealing. One of my CITs was caught stealing money form the drink machines outside the training post we were working. he was fired, but brought back as his dad was on the executive board. Then when him and a few of his troop mates also on staff were caught stealing stuff in another staffer's tent, they were sent home.

No, that's the program director's entire office that would be relocated to the dining hall. Some staffers thought that since the PD spent more time in the dining hall than at camp HQ and visting the program areas, as well as more time in his cabin than in the DH, that moving the office would be best for himm, and also getting a camp cot and placing it next to the desk. Campers loved the joked, CD and PD not so much.

You KNOW one of those golf carts would have ended upon the swimming raft and another perched in a tree! How about on four jacks with tires spread out all over the trail? Lesson learned: don't do that on the only road leading to the wilderness area.

Ok I'm back. All gear was owned by the troop, but was assigned to the individual patrols. If a patrol ceased to exist, it went back into the troop inventory. Depending upon the cause of the damage determined who paid for new equipment, i.e. scout or patrol destroyed something they paid for it, normal wear and tear, or the CO uses the storage shed as a dartboard and causes your tent to become unserviceable due to mildew and glass globes for lanterns are destroyed, troop paid for it.

Yep I've seen the BMing stuff at camp. Not pretty and almost caused the camp to be shut down b/c it was in the dining hall. I've also seen the carving of initials, pornographic graffiti, "painting" the outhouses with deordarant (at least it took care of the smell ) and the XYZ hearts ABC painted on the lookout tower at the waterfront (ABC was NOT amused). Most expensive though was when a "troop" sliced up 1 year old canvas tents. These were the tents used at jamboree the year before, and for all practical purposes were brand spanking new. And every single one of them, 2 jamboree troops' worth of tents, sliced up. The entire unit was kicked out of camp, and the COR had to pay for them. EDITED: LE was involved in the matter as a Sheriff's office was the COR.(This message has been edited by Eagle92)

While all of the gear: tents, stoves, Dutch Ovens, etc were owned by the troop, Everything was divided by patrols and labeled withthe patrol name.

Having parents that are not registered is not a problem. Having ASMs from another, stressing ANOTHER, troop is not a problem either and I've seen it done. However what is a problem, and one I wish wasn't, is having a youth sit on the BOR. I remember when it was done, and sat on a few BORs as a PL and ASPL.

Call me an old fogey, but carts, UTV, etc should be limited to staff, and even then for certain circumstances, i.e. transporting supplies, handicapped campers, etc. Only folks IMHO who need to ride are the medics and ranger. Maybe, stressing MAYBE, the camp QM since most work with the ranger at the camps I worked at. CD, PD, SMs ad nauseum walked.

In 1979 to about 1985, Scouts and Explorers wore the same shirt, loops told the difference: red for scout, green for Explorer. Then about 1985 the green shirt came back. If memory serves.

A few thoughts. In reference to Cub Scouts and flag ceremonies, I look to the example of one my scouting mentors, a crusty old, retired USMC SgtMaj who was in three wars: Any time he saw Cubs raising the colors you could see the tears in his eyes on them learning about the country, patriotism, and respect for the flag and what the flag represents. Now for Boy Scouts he was a little more demanding, especially if they did his first year camper program and knew better. But new scouts, he had the patience of a saint, and in all cases, he worked with the scouts. Now if you were camp staff, you better have your act together As for drill, I remember those Silent Scout signs, and actually use a few with my Cubs. The love it. While the marching we did was not up to JROTC standards, we did do it on some occasions with the troop, usually on hikes. As for Sea Scouts, Yep they use NAVMC2691, and I've seen some Sea Scouts kick JROTC and Sea Cadet butt!

Yep some folks cannot float. I know this for a fact as my partner in lifeguarding class was a guy who weighed in the 280-300# range, was 6'9", and wad an extremely low body fat percentage as he was the head wrestling coach at a local HS. Needless to say doign any of the rescues with him was a major PITB.

KC, for brief time, I think 79 or there abouts to 85? Explorers wore teh tan shirt with green loops. By demand it was brought back.

Depends. If it a brand new DE who hasn't gone to PDL-1 yet, so technically they are an "Executive Trainie" it may depend upon what experience and background they have. I've met some with no expereince, some with youth only expereince, and some who were very active volunteers. For all I recommend having some patience and giving them a complete as possible briefing on your responsibilities and situation: good, bad, and ugly. For complete newbies with no experience, I'd also recommend them getting basic trained in all the areas: Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturing. When I went through PDL-1 it was required t get the training before going, but I have been told that it not the current case. Luckily I already had SMF and EBLT, and just needed the CSBLT. Gave me a very good foundation on all the program areas, and going through the CSBLT training helped make relationships on the CS side of things. Also offering to help staff the outdoor portion of SMF, IOLS today, after getting off the plane from PDL-1 also helped develop relationships, and prove to some folks that yes I actually knew what I was talking about. For those with experience, both new DEs coming form another area as well as Pros who have been at it for a while, be open and receptive to their ideas. One of the challenges I had was folks are set in their ways, and didn't really want to try new things. Grant you each area is different, and some ideas that work in one area may not work in another, but give it some though, and be receptive. One thing not to do if you have a brand new, unmarried DE is the following: Do not try setting them up with your daughters and/or nieces. AH carumba.

Fscouter, Yes a topic is a topic and that is why I gave him a serious answer, although I did give a caveat about possible trolling. You know as well as I that we have been getting hit of late with trolls, and it has caused problems. I don't want to be seen as feeding trolls, but as a former swimming and lifeguard instructor, this is a very important topic near and dear to my heart. Plus while it may not have been mentioned as to what is causing the fear, I mention my own fears I initially had due to my actual drowning at 4 or 5.

SP, YEP it took it a bunch of times in 2 areas.

BN, GREAT IDEA. A few comments. 1) It needs a "user friendly" search mechanism. One of the challenges with the old discussion board on myscouting.org was that folks couldn't find the topic they were looking for, so they were 2 or more groups discussing the exact same topic b/c they couldn't find the original thread. 2) Something needs to be done about response time as SP sent in the same thread multiple times, and it shows. BUT she didn't get a response and kept hitting enter.

Joker, No disrespect intended. This website seems to have attracted some trolls lately, and sometimes the names give it away. When I saw the name, first thing popping into my head was the movie FULL METAL JACKET and the baracks seen where Joker, Cowboy, and Pyle get their names. That movie actually won me a bet once. After reciting every single line for 20 minutes on my way to NAB Little Creek, the guy who said I couldn't repeat the entire movie gave up and gave me the $5. BTW WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!

Forgot to add, Sgt Joker is OK, Sgt Animal Mother and his '60 rocks.

While the nomme de guerre may imply you are a troll, I am going to take you seriously and give you a serious reply. Swimming IS a life skill that can save his life. He needs to learn how to swim, as there is so many opportunities in scouting that do involve the water that he will not be able to participate in. Yes scouting is not suppose to be about the advancement, Scouting is suppose to be about fun and adventure, which he can still get out of the program, save aquatic activities. And I know folks who don't care about advancement and stayed involved until aging out. But if he want to advance, he needs to learn how to swim and, more importantly in my opinion, to float. Both can save his life. Now the key is to get someone who is very knowledgeable and is willing to take the time to work with him. Trust me it may not be a pretty sight, and may dive the instructor nuts. I'm sure I drove mine nuts. But with time and patience, and more importantly practice, he will get it. As you can guess, I'm speaking from expereince. I had that fear as I DID drown, and had CPR done to me to revive me. So I know what he's going through,. Good luck.

A plumbers helper and 5 gallon bucket are pretty common at scout camps. And scouts actually think they are fun. Plunger?!?!, bucket?!?!?!.... We don't need no stinking plunger and bucket! I personally use the BROWNSEA WASHING MACHINE. Wear all clothes to be washed into shower. Use soap to scrub and then rinse in the shower. Repeat for each layer of dirty clothes. And yep it does work

Now this is going off on a tangent a bit, but I know some FA and CPR/AED instructors also serve as MBCs, so I think it applies to a degree. I just finished teaching basic first aid in a class, and I think the current method of teaching the First Aid via DVD needs work. Now I like how CPR is done with a combination of watching the video, and hands on practice. But the course I just taught did not have as much hands on work as I think it should include. And if we are using instructors who are use to this method, maybe we are seeing the results in the field.

thanks all for the help. few comments and I got to run. 1) OA is AWESOME, and I do have Arrowmen helping out. PROBLEM with the OA is that a bunch are working summer camp. When the CA is the Shooting Sports dir. and wants an excellent staff for camp, he know how to get them before I do. 2) I am the former DE from way back when. Current DE is summer camp director and not much help. I'm the volunteer PD. CD is very detail and administrative oriented, but not a people person or program freak. So I am working on this through my core staff, especially the 3 CMs on staff 3)My district has some challenges. CS RTs are not well attended, and several units do not do anything with the district whatsoever. So getting scouts from those units was a great shocker. 4) Unfortunately it is all individual registrations, except for the one new pack that actually used the group registration form I created. This is a mixed blessing as I know they will be 6 fokls form their pack attedning. BUT their apps are missing at this time. 5) Thanks for the citation. Of course the one book I didn't have access to when looking for the info was the one having the source. Important lesson learned; NEVER TAKE YOUR NCS INFORMATION OUT OF THE BINDER AND USE IT INDIVIUDALLY. Question, and I am sure it is in the book, is the 1:10 Staff:Cubs, or is it ADULT STAFF: Cubs. If youth staff are included, we are good. Thanks and keep it coming.