Scotts_Scout

Darnit I should have read these yesterday. Oh well sorry for being a day late but happy Veterans Day to all you Vets. I retired from the active duty USAF in 1999. Not that I was counting (we all do) but it was 20 years and 20 days. My wife is also a Vet. I met her in the former West Germany while we were both in the USAF. Cheers to all Vets. My Decorations: Meritorious Service Medal 2 AF Commendation Medals Joint Service Achievement Medal 2 AF Achievement Medals Presidential Unit Citation NATO Service Medal Small Arms Expert with Star Also a few other Organizational awards.

Thanks for all the great posts. I found out some more info after our Monday night troop meeting. Our troop consists of around 40 boys. We are expecting to have 15 rather than 10 Webelos crossover in Feb. 2004. The troop as a whole would like to keep four patrols with around 10 boys in each with no Venture Patrol. I spoke with our Troop Committee Chair and I suggested having a fifth NSP patrol. He said that was a good idea but it should be more of a short term patrol. I suggested we could have an NSP for about six months, or until the boys were comfortable with scouting (It could also work out that they were at the rank of Second Class). We will be discussing this at the next committee meeting. Some great info thanks again. Scott

I've only been a trained leader for a short time. When my son and I joined our troop, the troop leadership (both boy and adult) had previously determined that we needed to form mixed patrols (new scouts with older boys). They believed that this structure would make it easier for the younger boys to relate to the older boys for guidance, advancement, and leadership. I know that the BSA structure SM handbook recommends there SHOULD be a new scout patrol and the older patrols and troop leadership would help this new patrol live the scouting experience. Even though my son has definately benefited from current structure I;m not sure that it's great for the future. There's a crossover in the early part of February with quite a few new scouts (I believe we'll have more than 10) and I was going to propose to the committee that we go back to the NSP method. I personally don't see any glaring problems between either of the methods. Any comments or opinions?