Adult wearing Eagle

[scoutmaster52]

I feel that anyone having earned the rank of Eagle Scout should have the right to wear the rank patch. I wear the knot now and so does my 20 year old son, but it would mean more for people to see the rank.

[OldGrayOwl]

True, but since the rank patch is for the youth, we adults wear the knot. People can tell an Eagle Scout, even without the patch.

[ScoutNut]

>>"it would mean more for people to see the rank."

[Engineer61]

"True, but since the rank patch is for the youth, we adults wear the knot. People can tell an Eagle Scout, even without the patch."

 

Other Scouts might, but non-Scouts wouldn't know it from Adam.

[acco40]

I agree with Scoutmaster42. That's why I wear my Sunday School perfect attendance pin I earned in kindergarten to work each day. Everyone should know of my accomplishment.

[BadenP]

You guys this has been already been beaten to death on another thread, before you start a whole new thread sm52 learn how to look up the archive material on this subject, and save us all a lot of grief.

[scoutmaster52]

Since opinions dont matter here and a lot of "senior forum members have that attitude, I think this will be my last post.

[desertrat77]

Scoutmaster52, I agree with you. Wouldn't wear my eagle patch myself, but I think adults should have the option. Unfortunately, there are a bunch of folks that view this as a heresy.

 

True, this topic has been beat to death. The anti-eagle patch crowd's position can be summarized thusly:

 

- The patch is for youth (as if this is written in stone)

- The knot should be enough (in their opinion)

- The uniform guide says adults must only wear the knot (as if this were holy writ)

- You are stealing attention from the scouts by wearing the eagle patch (actually, no--you are stealing attention from the adult scouters who are jealous that you have one, and they don't)

 

Here's my personal observation: if an adult espouses the anti-adult-eagle-patch viewpoint in person, nine times out of ten their uniform is usually covered with every patch, dangle, gee-gaw, doo-dad, and accouterment known to man.

 

"Well, it's all authorized!"

 

Yes, it is. Wear it all in good health.

 

They would deprive you of wearing a patch you earned as a youth because of a uniform reg written by humans, and their opinion that wearing the eagle patch as an adult makes you some kind of Peter Pan, not willing to grow up, and that by magic, the day you turned 18, a higher power has determined It Would Be Wrong to wear it any more. However, they do not deny themselves when it comes to the wearing of uniform doo-dads.

 

"It's authorized and the eagle patch isn't!"

 

Yes, yes indeed.

 

And to close on the edge of the limb: I think adult eagle scouts make some adult non-eagle scouters nervous. Or jealous. With 457 knots available for adults to earn, that red/white/blue knot is much easier to hide next to the Perfect Power Point Presentation Knot, etc.

 

Really, who cares?

 

The BSA, and its organizational objectives, would not be the least bit compromised if an adult wore an eagle patch, in any manner--legally, morally, ethically. But there is no support from the adult scouters at large to change the uniform reg, so it will stay the way it is for now.

 

I say wear it, and double dog dare anyone to say a word about it.(This message has been edited by desertrat77)

[Gunny2862]

I could care less if adults wear whatever patch they care to wear; except for the below.

 

My issue then comes in two places - 1)if it negatively affects the boys and 2) when they think their patch gives them the right to undermine those who may not have been allowed to Scout as youth but are currently wearing other circular sleeve patches. Especially when they aren't willing to put one of THOSE patches on.

[desertrat77]

Gunny, couldn't agree more.

[Narraticong]

I think I'd like an Eagle to be able to wear his badge until he is 21. There are some of us who earned it just as we turned 18 and never got to wear that beautiful badge. It would likely mean a lot to those young men who work hard and just beat the deadline. Now, all these years later I don't have a need to wear it. I used to break it out for Eagle COH's, etc. But not any more. As I age, my Scouting game becomes more and more about the boys than about me.

 

Ken

[Eagledad]

I'm not a patch kind of guy, since I have to sew them on, I only put on what is absoluty nessesary. I think I went a year before I switched my ASM patch to the SM patch. Call me lazy, but you won't find knots and such on my uniform. However I like the idea of adults wearing the Eagle Patch. It doesn't make sense that such a big deal is made of the honor, and yet it becomes just another knot? How many folks can identify each knot anyway? That Eagle patch is pretty obvious even to non scouters. From the perspective of the scouts, the Eagle patch makes a lot more sense than Wood Badge beads. And I have seen a lot more adults flashing their beads around to get authority than their Eagle knots.

 

Barry

[ParkMan]

Ken makes the point that I keep reminding myself about:

"As I age, my Scouting game becomes more and more about the boys than about me. "

 

When I think about putting anything on my uniform, I ask myself that question. Is it for me or for the boys? Generally, I think the scouts understand what the eagle knot looks like so I don't personally see a need for the rank badge.

 

For those making the transition from Scout to Scouter, I think this kind of issue helps reinforce that being a Scouter is about the boys we serve, not about us personally.

 

[sherminator505]

"And I have seen a lot more adults flashing their beads around to get authority than their Eagle knots."

 

That's probably true, although that behavior is driven by ego more than anything else, and if they didn't have beads they'd wave something else around.

 

Older Eagles, on the other hand, just don't seem to put themselves out there as much. It's almost as if they're actual eagles, sitting on the high branch observing the proceedings below, occasionally participating but generally staying "above the fray."

[Eagle92]

Now I admit I like the idea of under 21 scouters wearing the patch, just like the Venturers can. Over 21 doesn't matter one way or the other to me.

 

Now I admit I got a lot of swank on my uniform. All of it for a "misspent youth" as Chesty Puller would say . Why do I wear it? To try and inspire the boys, to let them know about what is out there as they grow in scouting. Also I've found on the CS level, it helps ease the concerns of some parents.

 

But like others have said whether you wear everything you have, or believe like our Sea Scout brethren that "less is more," the primary concern for ALL leaders is this: what's best for the boys.