countrymatt07

Hey guys thanks for replying. I have no problem with personal choices. In your example I have no problem with long hair, or heavy metal. I could care less if the some of the youths ideals in their everyday lives do not match mine perfectly. What I meant by military crisp would be more of a troop that moves as one unit. One that would have good turn out (Hard to do nowadays), when they march in parades or color gaurd situations would move in unison. I have seen too much of boys that treat the uniform with disrespect (Example slouching with shirt untucked). I want the boys to want to be scouts. I want them to want to show pride in their troop, their organization, and themselves. I want the boys to be challenged everyday. Even though I knew this was a great organization when I was fully active, I never even came close to grasping the endless possibilities in character building, career networking, research into different fields, high andventure and just plain fun! Someday when I reassert myself in a troop I don't want them to take this chance for granted.

Hello everyone I recieved my Eagle rank this summer. I have had a very long scouting history so I'll keep it brief. I came from a small town troop in northern Minnesota. My troop was very inactive, our largest and usually only trip each year was to the region summer camp. Before I reached the rank of Eagle my troop fell apart. It was a moment that we all saw coming the national problem of little to no turnout takes a hard hit on a smalltime troop. The good news was I kept in touch with my National Jamboree scoutmaster and I quickly enrolled in his troop (3 hours away!) There were many troops closer but this was a sentimental troop for me. I met quickly accepted this troop as my new family and earned my rank in the nick of time. I am now eighteen and attending college. I am not yet trained as a scoutmaster but I hope to become one someday. However I am very disturbed with the downward direction of this great organization. I look back to historical times of scouting say maybe the 50's. Scouts were the honored highlight of the town. I have dreamed of changing the outlook of todays scouts. I picture a military crisp (yet fun) troop. We need to motivate today's scouts. I want to start a troop that has the comradery of a family in and out of scouting functions. My major of choice is also natural resources. I feel that scouting has also abandoned a lot of the old outdoor heritage that we once used as our cornerstone. I guess what I want to say is that I want to start suggestions on motivating the boys and bringing back the outdoors into the organization.(This message has been edited by countrymatt07)