JosephMD

I claim these scouts too! #proud

It sure sounds like the pack needs help. All of the pack's leaders should be registered and have taken YPT training, if this isn't happening, something isn't being done right somewhere. The main technical dificultiy we run into with online YPT is getting it credited to the right BSA ID, but if you have a printed (or pdf copy) certificate with your name, that is good enough for me. There is offline YPT but I've never seen it in person. I do wish all parents would take it, and youth too for that matter. I know my older son has done it as they required it for day camp staff, even youth. Seatbelts is a no brainer, in a scouting context or not, legal or not, there is just a level of common sense that is required when transporting others. The pack is going to need more drivers. Two deep leadership and no one on one contact are often confused. It is fine for a scouter to drive two scouts with no other adults, but can't drive a single scout other than their own son. This pack could sure use a pack trainer and the district could probably use a hand on the training committee.

Even the first source conflicts. If you can't set the facebook group to private, you are exposing full names of youth who may post on it.

I get different answers from different people and different documented sources, some linked above! Suggestoin, use common sense. Know your scouts, know their families, what is their preference? Be flexible.

I knew that existed in writing somewhere, I just couldn't find it!

I remember my first BoR in 1989, it was terrifying, I was told up front that my knowledge of what I learned would be tested, and it was. This was probably already against the rules in 1989, but I'll tell you, I could demonstrate any tenderfoot skill, this testing continued through first class. Even though it was scary at first, I wouldn't change it.

OA Chapter Adviser here - the bottom line is: it is the Scoutmaster's decision to make. The OA qualifications do not mention specifics, and we aren't going to make up qualifications as we go. Some will only count camping nights done in tents, other's will count nights done in "camping structures" like, cabins. I don't know anyone who would count a hotel room stay, but who knows. My son's scoutmaster asked me a similar question, and here is a paraphrase of his decision, basically, if there is a furnace, air conditioning, or indoor plumbing, it doesn't count, otherwise, it does. I think this came up with because of a camp out where the scouts stayed in tree houses, not the fancy things you see on TV, more like a covered deck with some plywood walls and windows. I can go back further, when my troop as a youth spent a week sailing each patrol had its on yacht, and we counted that as camping. Those boats were definitely more comfortable than the tree houses mentioned above. If I were a scoutmaster, I would probably apply the same standard as my son's unless further clarification to national policy is made. Basically, use some common sense.

Not only could, but should! Also, if he earned the arrow of light and/or eagle scout, he should wear those too.

Your local council approves the charter http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/524-402_WB.pdf A council scout executive is the decision maker on charter approval, and he/she may take input from the local DE. I don't have statistics on the number of charters denied, but since the number of units is a metric that the professional scouters get measured on, it seems unlikely. There have been rumblings about denying charters to organizations specifically set up to run a scout unit, like "Friends of Troop 1234" but I haven't heard much about that lately. Those usually happen when a group of parents and a charter org have a falling out. What you really want to do is meet with the district commissioner and district executive, they should be eager to help you. Ok, so you want to start a pack. That's great. Make it a good pack, make a commitment to making it work and everyone get training and cross training. The committee should understand the cubmaster and den leader roles, and vice versa. Go beyond the online training and attend the local pow wow and/or university of scouting.

This. If you think about it, most SMs will exceed the camping nights every year almost by default. I suppose there are SMs that don't camp with their unit or units that don't camp, but something tells me they aren't all that interested in a brotherhood of honor campers (if we are honoring tradition).

Wow, quite frustrating. Every pack is run by volunteers with different roles, some are better at it than others. It sounds like yours has some disfunction somewhere. It seems like in your pack the application, other paperwork, and money was given to the den leader to handle, but he is probably just the interface, and just delivers it all to someone else. Most of my experience, that sort of thing is handled by the commitee. The magazine, Boys Life, should have been included in the application and your funds transferred to your local council, if they didn't do this, I'd be worried that he is even a registered scout (did you get a membership card?). The rest of your fee should have been kept by the pack and the additonal items purchased and since every pack does this differently, nobody here will be able to tell you exactly how it works. I'd try to talk to the committee chair who should have an idea of how they do it and who would be the best person in the pack to look into it for you. The committee chair runs the pack's administration side of the house, although sometimes that duty is left up to the cubmaster who runs the program side of the pack. It does sound like the pack could use some help, although, I would say that getting involved in a troubled pack can be more frustrating than just being a parent in a troubled pack, but if you can help make it a little better, more boys have a better chance at a good experience.

There are so many things. It comes down to you and your son, if you volunteered with the troop are you ready to step further back even if you are at meetings, etc. Does he need space to figure out how to do it without a parent? You can take a break, just stay registered and make sure you are trained for your position. You could stay with the pack in some capacity, committee membership chair, next year's tiger den leader. My mother took over as cubmaster of the pack I bridged out of. You could sign on with the troop in a capacity. If you like to camp, be an assistant scoutmaster, organize things, a committee member. It sounds like they will have you. Are there merit badge subjects you think would be a good fit for you? Be a counselor. Depending on your council, there are usually district committees that are always looking for help. Administration, Program, etc. Whatever you like. Do you know the program well? Unit Commissioner may be a role for you. Whatever you do, like I mentioned before, get trained for it too, even if it isn't required, training will get you started in the "what to expect there" category. Also, if you like training and teaching, councils and districts are always looking for training staff

DEs will come and go, you hate to see the good ones go, and you hate to see the bad ones go on to be someone else's problem. District volunteers that has been around for more than a couple of years are used to this. How is your district's FOS doing? I think we all know that FOS and council pay checks are connected. A DE that is working for the volunteers sure does make it easier for us to open our wallets doesn't it?

Our team handled two Arrow of Light Blue & Gold Banquets on the same day, one early in the afternoon, and one later. The later one was a little bit of a scheduling mess as they were told they were needed at four o’clock pm. The team feels like an hour to prepare is necessary so they arrived at 3, only to find out that they aren’t really needed until five thirty, which really turned out to be more like quarter to six. We know how these things happen, but they can be quite irksome, but the team kept a cheerful attitude and killed some time while waiting for the cubs to be ready for them. There was no complaining, not even from our ceremonies adviser who took a blow to the head from a falling flag (he reads this board). When I see the arrowmen living the obligation, it reminds me that it works, and that OA a worthwhile thing to be a part of. The pack made sure the arrowmen ate well, and forced us adults who were advising to do so as well. The ceremony was great. The team is so flexible with how they do it, adjusting for the number of guys they can get together, to each pack’s unique way of handling the awards. As a chapter adviser, I really like to see the arrowmen engage with the Cub Scout aged youth, especially the Webelos, it won’t be too long before they’ll be eligible to become arrowmen themselves.

That is pretty much how it works, but every lodge will have its own process. My lodge has a form where you would fill out your information, ordeal date, brotherhood date, etc. & from what lodge. If you had an OALM ID, you could put that on there. Some lodges were better at keeping records than others and some these days are more picky than others in their verification. Some have better online presence than others, some have lodge meetings or if it is broken into chapters, chapter meetings. I'm a chapter adviser, I get adults transferring in from lodges long ago every so often, it unusually goes well, even though it is a paper process. I guess a good question is, why'd you wait? Just because you have the blue loops doesn't mean you can't pay those dues and wear the lodge flap. It is rare, but it happens. My chapter is big on cub scout outreach, having a couple of adults from packs is helpful there.

My wife is the CC of a pack and didn't participate in the Lion pilot. One of the main reasons was that the council instructed pilot packs not to deviate from the Lion pilot program and leaving the Lions out of so many pack activities didn't sit well with the committee.

Sounds like fun - I'm looking forward to helping with the K2BSA demonstration station!