delway

Scoutnut - "With a counselor's, and a parent's approval". As a counselor you would have been within the rules to withhold your approval for email interviews." Can you point me to these rules?

With ScoutNut 100% on this one. In addition to his comments, what does the boy's patrol have to do with his MB? MBs are an individual pursuit. It's one thing if the Scout wants to ask his patrol to help him by foregoing the gear, it's another for you to dictate it. The broader issue here is that MBs should not be interwoven into the troop program. You can, and I think should, keep MB opportunities in mind, but troop meetings and campouts are not merit badge school. Your dual roles, SM and MB Counselor, will recreate this sticky situation over and over again. Now that you've seen the potential mess early, leave it here. You be the SM, there are plenty of MB counselors. The boys patrol is involved because 8D requires him to cook three meals for his patrol including a trail meal. We can't afford to cook duplicate meals and most of the patrol would prefer a dutch oven meal then a trail meal for a frontcountry / car camp out. We are a small troop with a couple of dozen scouts. SM and ASMs double up as MB Counselors.

Sorry, I wasn't very clear with the email interview comment. For Cit Community req 4B , this Scout insisted on doing a email interview rather then face to face or telephone interview. Always seems like he is trying to bend or cut corners.

Hello, I'm a SM and Camping MBC for a relatively new troop. We worked on the camping MB last year as a troop and capped it off with a weekend backcountry backpacking trip. We brought in our own water and had to treat some too. Hiked over six miles and the scouts packed in their food, and patrol equipment. All meals were trail meals cooked with backpacking stoves. We had several scouts complete the MB that weekend. We encouraged all of our Scouts to go but we had one scout that didn't go because he doesn't like to rough it. He is a member of the PLC and voted down a backpacking trip for this year. Now, he has decided he wants to complete camping MB and wants to satisfy several requirements on our next car (front country) camping trip. The requirements don't specifically state you must be on a backpacking trip to satisfy requirements (7B, 8C, 8D). He wants to bring his pack, show his gear, and cook one trail meal using a light weight stove. I totally believe in the "nothing less and nothing more" policy, but I don't want to cut corners on a Eagle MB. I'm Inclined to approve his plan providing he gets his patrol to forgo their chuck box with dutch oven and plan and pack in trail meals and trail equipment since 7B & 8D requires him to pack in some of the patrol gear and his patrol agrees to eat a trail meal instead of car camp meal. I know this is going to rub some of the other scouts that took pride in roughing it and earning the mb without question. I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks! p.s. this is the same scout that insists on email interviews instead of face to face or telephone interviews because the requirements do not say you can't.