MikeS72

Tipisa 326 inducted its first female youth members back during the first weekend in February (with the CSE in attendance). This past weekend two of those new members were elected as the first female officers in the lodge.

I was a 20 year old ASM when that program began, and a 26 year old SM when it was abandoned. While the IPS did not require camping, cooking, swimming, etc., we did not change the way we conducted our outdoor program. We continued to camp, hike, backpack, just as we had always done. I cannot remember any of my scouts saying that they were no longer going to participate in those activities just because the book no longer required them. I am sure that there were a lot of troops that were adversely affected, or we would never have seen things brought back, but I am also sure that there were a lot of troops that continued to operate just the way they always had, just a few less things to sign off on the old tri-fold rank advancement cards.

Just make sure that none of your new scouts are named Boris or Natasha (or have a thing for 'squirrel and moose'!

Those of us who have coached or officiated girls know this to be fact. The only time I had to issue a red card in a soccer match was to a girl on a U18 premier team. Whistle was blown for a foul before she even hit the ground, yet she jumped up and kicked the other player square in the chest. (as an aside, after the match the girls on her team thanked me for sending her off, as this seemed to be typical behavior for her)

I went from being a 17 year old JASM to an 18 year old ASM in 1971. At that time I was old enough to be drafted and go to Vietnam. I was old enough to vote in my first presidential election the following year. I was old enough to be invited to attend Woodbadge, when the age dropped from 21 to 18 the following year I was old enough at 20 to be invited to serve on Woodbadge staff. At 20 you are old enough to vote, to serve in the military, to do anything any other adult in the country can do (other than be president, but who wants that), but as of last year you do not count as part of 2 deep until you are 21. We have had 18 - 20 year old ASM's as long as I can remember, and they were no different than any other leader. To me, and most of the scouters I know, there is no realistic or logical reason for that to have changed.

Don't take it personally when at some point your SM tells you that you do not count toward two deep leadership. (One of the most pointless changes made in recent memory)

True. When I am teaching, I demo the 30:2 first, but then tell them that if for any reason they cannot do the breaths, go with compression only. Sometimes that is due to facial injuries, but other times it is due to looking at the victim and saying 'no way is my mouth going down there'.

Good to know. In addition to teaching First Aid/CPR/AED and Wilderness & Remote First Aid with BSA, I coordinate and teach classes as part of my job with the school system. Every class, when we get to the CPR portion, someone brings up 'I thought we weren't supposed to do breathing any more'. I will be sure to let them know now, that AHA is the same as Red Cross in preferring the 30:2 process, but in also recognizing that there are times when compression only is the only option.

As a long time Red Cross instructor, I would consider our program to be the 'gold standard'. I have also sat in on ECSI WRFA class, and the material in the Red Cross course is, I think, better suited to what we might encounter within BSA high adventure programs. A lot has to do with the instructor as well. I have seen Red Cross instructors who make me shudder, and ECSI instructors who are very good.

As a Red Cross instructor, I can tell you that American Heart Association does have differences with their CPR classes. For a number of years now, they have emphasized compression only CPR, while Red Cross still teaches the breathing/compression combo model. There is a short segment during Red Cross training showing compression only method, but the 30/2 compression to breaths is still the preferred method. As for ESRI, I am not sure who that is, here in Central Florida we either use Red Cross or ECSI, who are the primary providers authorized by BSA to offer WRFA courses. BSA will also accept a provider who is certified by the American Camp Association. The ACA does not show ESRI as an accredited provider.

Have a couple, one of my favorites. When skill awards first came out, I thought they made my scouts look like cubs. That and the belt they were designed to go on was tough enough to get through those skinny little loops on the old uniform pants. Agreed Still have mine, with nary a scratch on it! I still have, and occasionally wear the 60's version of the garrison cap. I have noticed a fair number of younger scouts wearing them district or council events recently. Every patrol had the official chef kit Bought one of those and almost immediately discarded it in favor of the military version that had the L shape and colored filters.

Love it! Maybe I can do the same with a six pack of Lombardi Trophies!

Don't see it much anymore, but it was a regular part of our meetings back in the day (way back, as in 1964 +) Now, it does seem there are few who are fully and correctly uniformed. I make sure that my own scout & I are fully and correctly uniformed at all times, as for the rest of the troop, I will point out something that needs correction (patches on the wrong sleeve, etc), but have reached the stage of life where I am more concerned with the scout inside the uniform, rather than the uniform itself.

I thought I responded earlier, internet demons must have eaten my reply. Once you have filled out an adult application with your new troop (and it gets turned in to the new council) you will likely get a new BSA ID number. While it makes little sense, those numbers are issued by the local council, not national. Once you get that new ID (any member of your troop key 3 can access the troop roster via my.scouting) the registrar in your new council can merge the accounts. This will allow all of your past training to show. As for adding the IOLS from another council, that is not something that you can do yourself. The first person to contact to take care of that would be the district training chair. I would think it would be a simple as showing your training card, and they can input it (once you have your new ID number - you want to be sure it is credited correctly). As an ADC I can input training for any scouter except myself.

Actually have a pair on right now. We had a backpacking trip this past January that involved a lot of water, they kept my feet both warm and dry the whole time. Highly recommended.

I am guessing that you are referring to the Thorlos wool socks sold at the scout shop. Not too bad, at $15.99 a pair, if you get them when they do the buy one, get one at half price sales. Seems to be on sale at least 50% of the time I am in the store.

I have been reading this thread with a mixture of amusement and skepticism. I fully agree that LNT is something we should all be aware of and every scout should do their best to adhere to, however, the color of a scouts t-shirt leaves does not adversely affect the natural environment. Our troop can choose forest green or grey for shirts, so that is not generally an issue when we are on the trail, but if the color of a scouts shirt offends someones sensibilities, that would definitely be at the bottom of my list of concerns.

Our troop currently ranges in age from 11 - 15, with about half falling into that 11/12 age group. Regardless of age, any new scout who is interested in doing one of the backpacking trips must first accompany us on a 5 mile hike (on a weekend backpacking trek 5 is an average day for us). At the end of the 5 mile hike, they then don a 20lb backpack and do 2 more miles. Anyone who wants to try this is given that opportunity, to some it is no big deal. Others decide that maybe this month's 15 mile backpacking trip is not for them, and still others decide to wait until they have had the time to put on a little more size and are more physically capable of doing the trek. My nephew was 10 1/2 on his first 15 miler, and after spending the day at REI making sure that he had a backpack properly sized (and adjustable for later growth) he had no problem completing the trek. He has done 3 of those in his first year with the troop, and is raring to go for a 30. Some scouts are up for the challenge, regardless of age, and some are not, also regardless of age.

In addition to those already mentioned, we have best super hero category.

We have more than our fair share of venomous snakes in Central Florida Council, and seem to have a knack for running into them on every backpacking trip or hike. Over the ankle hiking boots saved one of our scouts when he stepped on a pygmy rattlesnake.

Sounds like fun. I wonder if yours is the district I saw mentioned on an OA Facebook page, where they will be doing call out dressed as knights rather than in the usual NA regalia.

Same way I would explain to John and Joe that they can tent together from Jan. to June as 16 & 17 year old scouts, but not afterward due to John turning 18. Still within 2 years, but one is no longer a youth for YPT purposes, even if considered such in a Crew or OA.

I am an ADC, and had the same question asked by a SM. I felt the same way as @DuctTape, trying to look at what the month/day differences might be would only result in the entire rule being ignored. Just to be on the safe side, I ran it by my DE & the folks at council, who agreed. Just look at the age in years, don't worry about fractions thereof.

Excellent, reasoned, and rational.

If one of my scouts was in just his underwear during a skit, I would also be concerned about consequences. Knowing that you have moms who might well bypass you and call council to inform them of scouts in their underwear outside an area where that is appropriate, I would strongly discourage the scouts from doing this skit in it's original form (I watched this skit on several occasions more than 50 years ago - I am sure that it amuses the scouts as much now as it did then). G2SS & YPT cannot possibly list every single situation that may pop up, I would think showing your scouts the line under Barriers to Abuse / Program Requirements "Appropriate attire is required for all activities" should be clear enough for them. I might also ask them if they consider walking down the sidewalk in their underwear appropriate, or more importantly, would their parents consider being in any setting other than one where lack of dress is normal, would be appropriate. i am amazed that campfire skits done at camporees have really not evolved much at all over the 55 years I have been with the program. I did not see one skit at our recent spring camporee that I did not see when I was a scout myself. Some of these are just plain corny, others might have been funny 50 years ago, now they seem more mean and crude than anything else. I do not want to come off as the old fogey, I enjoy a corny skit as much as the next guy, but in the age we live in, especially with the likelihood that there are now young ladies in the campfire audience, we should think about how some other than our troop may react to some of these 'old classics'.