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Oh, there are a lot of times when it is hard to resist typing a negative emoticon. I can be one for minute details. (See the fine-print-parsing discussions on pins and nameplates and neckerchiefs.) Maybe having lost a scout in a fatal traffic accident and a sibling of a venturer to suicide changed my perspective a little. But long before those, I realized that some square pegs can't fit into round holes and there ain't time to shave every edge. So let the square peg do it's squarish thing and go back to the wood pile. If you can find someone with time to work the new program for your newbies ... do it. Otherwise, there are bigger fish to fry.

As a fella who "serves two masters" as @@Stosh wishes to describe it ... some questions to provoke thought: Have you talked to the lead scout whom you are advising in planning this trip? What does he think the minimum qualifications for anyone investing in this adventure should be? What skills should they have demonstrated? What age/fitness requirements? How many conditioning/shakedown weekends? What is the maximum contingent size? Can itineraries be developed for multiple contingents, and will each contingent be responsible for finding/developing its own leadership? Have you encouraged the SPL and Crew President which events should be held in concert and which should be "troop only" and "crew only"? Do your patrols camp 300 feet apart? I.e. does your crew have a good example of working at a physical distance? Do your older boys who are members of both units work out who will be responsible for what unit when? (E.g. if a PL would like to do something as a venturer, does he ask the ASPL to take of the boys in his stead?) Do the youth see the friction? Are they willing to change to work it out? These are key questions. What you think, or what any other scouter thinks, is secondary. FWIW, our scouts are in the process of merging troops and the situation is hardly any different. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Listen to the youth. Respect the ones who are doing the work. Repeat.

Agree with the others that this is not a hill to die on. Encourage the DL to keep the bar raised for all the boys to the best of her ability. Accept that as a CC, you may have to endure a little missing the mark from the volunteers. Advancement is the last of your concerns. Safety and smiles - live for that. See, didn't that just make you fill a bit happier? What you need from the DE is a list of neighboring troops whose SM/SPL's you can call to recommend you a den-chief or two (or maybe 5 given your unit's size). The most seasoned/highly recommend boy goes to your Web II's if at all possible. (If there's a seasoned female venturer out there ... one with, maybe, camp staff experience ... that might work too.) This will do the most to help your boy's crossover into a troop with some skills under their belts.

Just realized the official term, according to the Insignia Guide is "nameplate white letters on black plastic, No.20100; worn by all members, above right pocket, either above BSA strip or above interpreter strip." So the one's available from National that are red (or white with dark lettering) are meant for non-uniform wear? One of my favorite patches as a scout was hand-made by our district commissioner commemorating a first aid meet. I'm quite fond of it. I don't have a problem with it not trading for diddly, and I'll gladly hang it from the right pocket from time-to-time.

The discussion of Eagle mentor/parent pins (and maybe fitting one onto a name tag) got me wondering ... Has anyone considered a fundraiser where the boys produce custom name-tags for a community of scouters or other folks? No idea what all equipment would be needed, but after the capital expense for tools and materials the boys would just need some training. Course, anymore the boys might be able to design it on their game system and post it to a 3-D printer somewhere. But the concept sounds like a nice way to bring in a little cash.

How 'bout embedded on a name tag, which is then pinned/sewn over the top pocket? Detractors: please object before I find my soldering iron!

@@skyfiiire, probably you need to start with some forward thing about space for meetings and storage. In terms of budget, make a plan for one patrol a year of purchases. Most troops, if they expand do so by that much.

Thanks for the reference! About the time $omone a$ked, "Let's make $ure they purcha$e a $hirt and $lack$ with every neckerchief."

I was a scout saving dimes for Jambo when the redesigned uniform appeared. Oh, ODL uni, how thou didst thou "flash"? Let me count the ways: "Khaki" became more than one color: tan shirt + green pants/shorts. Epaulets! And from the start we were all baffled why Explorers weren't also tan, but with green Eps. Collars ... they came back! Those red berets. The quaint red stripe "pretend garter" at the top of your socks. Yes, more colorful council and lodge patches seemed to appear. Interestingly, the majorettes started sewing more sequins on their outfits at about this time. I'll admit that I was quite pleased with it all, but I was one for gaudiness. I think other boys were less enthused. I don't recall if I uniformed any less. Always wore it to school on February 8ths. Never would any of us wear it to service projects, or on weekend trips. It's interesting that the Centennial uniforms constituted muted tones (epaulets that matched pants, socks without the red stripe, single color hat, etc ...).

Call your course SM. (Or talk to your PL ) Explain what happened and let him know you'd like to get your money's worth by still working your ticket. It's not about the beads, really. It's about the opportunity to have someone hold you accountable to the tasks you thought were important to do in the next year and a half. You'd like to see if that "You all can win" mantra is really true. If they blow smoke, talk to another scouter in your district or troop who would be willing to be your informal ticket guide for the next year.

I earlier mentioned its use in an official blog (insomuch as such a thing can truly be official) as of two months ago. The editors of that blog did matriculate around the time of the literature @@Eagle94-A1 references, so they may very well be reflecting their training. A more interesting etymology would be that of Class A, B, etc ... But, the "when" is not as interesting as the "why". The ODL uniform lent itself to parades ... allowing our boys to be as colorful as the majorettes. So I can see how applying the military term for parade dress came in vogue. The application of "field" tends to be an attempt to encourage boys (and their parents) to don the ODL for more than just parades.

Not BSA, but our church manages funds for several ministries in this fashion. There are many advantages ... not the least of which is accountability. It really depends on how they want you to operate. The critical thing to know is if the CO allocates a budget for your troop (i.e., you budget income and expenses yearly or quarterly, submit it, and that's what you work on ... by default there is no carry-over to the next year) or a fund for your troop (i.e., they don't ask for a budget, you just put $ in and request them ... surplus or debt carries over every year). There's advantages to both, but certainly the latter is more conducive to youth leadership.

Technically that's not a unique word. Doesn't count to the total.Now harg/mizzle, definitely count. Developed a fondness for wool sweaters after some of that!

I wonder if that's a function of smaller families these days. My SM was a church organist, so we were home in time for Sunday School. Never had a tough time cooking a big breakfast, but we camped nearby in any nook or hollow that was within 20 minutes from home.

I was one of those who insisted for the usual fare (including amassing a couple grand over a couple of years for an HA), this is a non-issue. But let's suppose you want to go forward with making the treasurer's life a little easier and phase out ISA's. It's simple. Johny's $1000 for Philmont stays allocated to that purpose. He can also add to that from his electronic device consulting service (the modern lawn-mowing equivalent) to pay his fees. Jimmy's $50 debt for camp overages will either be payed by him (from his online game-FAQ writing business) or out of the troop's operating budget. He defaults, you all owe. 'Nuff said. Treasure then says, "No more splitting fundraisers into ISA's." Done.

Lot's of details here http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2014/04/02/service-stars-for-scouts-and-scouters-pins-with-a-point/

So @@NJCubScouter, you and I, when we're at flags, let's put hand over heart for the pledge. When a scout asks us why, we'll say "Some guy on the internet said this pin on my BSA shirt collar here makes me out of uniform!" Just for funzies. I will if you will so long as we promise to post our scouts' reaction (with their permission, of course).

If I understand the police correctly, all of those mechanisms were in place. If by "two ticks", you mean contour intervals, that would put you at 80' above on this map. That's pretty high.

As recently as last month, both "field" and "activity" were referred to http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/08/21/scout-neckerchiefs-now-approved-wear-nonuniform-clothing/. However, even in that post, there is little distinction between "Activity" and "Non-" uniform. The rising popularity of "field" is a hopeful strategy, IMHO, to get scouts to be prepared. Regarding Stosh's photos of some no-doubt awesome scouts, I suspect the more casual one was a scout who was compelled to toss on his shirt for a photo-op ... out of sense that it really wouldn't look like a scout service project without it. This annoying trend of contentment with a 50% uniform long preceded scouters' application of pins to their collars, and will continue long after all scouters save the pins for ribbons, vests, or suit lapels. You mean sash racks? Depends ... if they are doing some great deed for their nation while conveniently hanging their sashes over their belt, I'll take it easy. On the other hand, if they are wearing them properly while robbing liquor stores to buy drugs ... I might have issues.

Thanks @@TAHAWK, I did not find that reference earlier. Must have searched the wrong section of the guide. Section 3 has "other pins for non uniform wear ..." So I thought the mentor pin would be listed before or after that. @@Cambridgeskip, we're a nation full of iconoclasts, but we really do love one another.

Your point's lost on me. All I see is a bunch of boys having fun doing good.

Just by way of definition, having perused a few military catalogs who actually use "A" and "B" designations ... Class A's rough parallel is the BSA Dress Unifom available to adult leaders. Class B's rough parallel is the BSA Field Uniform available to youth and adults. Class C's rough parallel is the activity shirt, with apparel suitable for the task at hand, and now with the "Official" BSA neckerchief. It probably also includes "brag vests" and other materials. FWIW the placement of pins apply to any of these three recognized methods of BSA uniforming in that: There is no official document prohibiting their use, but There is no official statement describing their intended use. Therefore, if you are willing to criticize someone putting their mentor pin on their field uniform, you must necessarily be willing to criticize someone doing so on a dress uniform, and someone in an activity uniform. In essence you must say such pins have no place in BSA uniforming with no guidance as to where their place belongs. Absence of endorsement is not prohibition. It's merely lack of endorsement. For some, that is sufficient to keep their pins on some non-BSA apparel, for others it's the loophole they want to jump through. Now I am not one to ask for an endorsement for things to which I am not prohibited. It violates my rule #1. (I.e.: Never ask for a rule.) As far as I'm concerned, National can stay mum on this forever. Scouters may read here about the little tempest in the teapot their innovations may inspire ... and decide for themselves how to best handle it in their units/districts/etc ... Life is more fun that way.

This sounds like words from parents who are fully informed and either satisfied with the answers they got from the camp or preparing legal action and have the good sense to not tip their hand to the press. Since the reporter can't pick the low-hanging fruit of a tear-jerking story, it's time to shake the tree for something nefarious. From my experience of being asked by a family to handle the press on their behalf, this is the worst part of modern tragedy. Fortunately, our IH was good at stonewalling camera crews for us.

Unless the troop has Muslims boys and religious sensitives are a concern, This is not about three square meals in a timely fashion. This is about after action review with the boys. Did the SM have it? What did they think? What do they want to improve upon? How can you all help them? The QM coach is a good idea if the boys are concerneD about getting organized and said they want a little help. If it's motivated by something else, it really won't help the boys grow all that much.

I'm with @@Stosh here. You need to make it clear that the committee will not micromanage troop program ... it will support it. When folks eat what is not a committee decision. It's up to the boys to evaluate the magnitude of the problem and thoughtfully come upon the best solution. (FWIW, in our troop, the best solution was eat before you come. Friday involves cracker-barrel.)