Adult wearing Eagle

[Eagledad]

If I remember right, the Eagle is not a Rank, it is an award. So it is not the same as wearing rank patches even though it does replace the Life patch.

 

I'm struggling with the idea that the Eagle is a youth thing. I'm not an Eagle, but I don't see the honor that way. Its a life thing to me.

 

Barry

[scoutmaster52]

If you don't like the rules, work to change the rules. The whole issue always boils down to a UNIform.

 

 

It seems to me that the senior forum members say this but dont agree with it. I do wear the knot, but it is my OPINION that the Eagle Scout award should be worn. We all know what the uniform guidelines say because Moses must have brought them down from Mt. Sinai.

[BadenP]

Barry

All you have to do is look in the latest scout handbook "Eagle Scout Rank Requirements" (pg442). "The National Eagle Scout Association is open to all scouts who have achieved the Eagle scout rank." (pg428). The Eagle has always been referred to as the highest rank in scouting since its inception.

 

sm52, I do agree with you in principle and maybe the rule needs to be looked at again, but as scouters we agree to follow the rules from National, even if we disagree.

[sherminator505]

Is it a rank or is it an award? Gee, I guess it depends on what book you're looking at and how old it is. I was a Scout in the 1980's when we had skill awards (OGE refers to this as "the dark time"). When I first joined, all of the "ranks" were listed in the Boy Scout Handbook as "progress awards." Then they changed the books to make them all "ranks" again. It seems like the two terms are *almost* interchangeable, if history is any guide.(This message has been edited by sherminator505)

[resqman]

"Resqman, I mentioned an elderly eagle scout in an earlier post, he earned it in the '30s, served as an adult scouter till he passed away in the '80s.

 

He wore his eagle patch as an adult. Would you give him the same speech?"

 

Yes, if asked about wearing his Eagle patch as an adult I would. I am of the belief that the uniform is supposed to be worn correctly according to the current regulations. Anything less is not a uniform, it is polyform.

 

Many good people and scouters justify not following the rules by saying it is only a little bit of not following the rules. As adults we should be trying to set the best example possible for the lads by making a concerted effort to follow the rules at all times, in all ways. If the adults can't be bothered to wear the uniform correctly, why should the lads bother to either. Wearing the uniform fully and correctly is not difficult. You sew the patches on right the first time and never worry about them again.

 

People who want to only wear part of the uniform, only wear it when it is not to much of a bother, or modify the uniform are missing the point of a uniform.

 

I know that I am one of very few on this forum but I don't understand why it is so difficult to wear the uniform correctly. I don't understand why adults don't want to wear the complete uniform at all scout functions. It only reenforces the idea that the uniform is somehow inferior.

 

I earned the rank of Eagle 4 months before my 18th birthday. Did not get much time to wear the patch. As an adult, I am allowed to wear the knot to show my previous achievment. It is a smybol of what I did in the past, not what I am doing today for the scouts.

[desertrat77]

Resqman, you are right, when people don't wear the uniform properly, it reaffirms that the uniform is inferior.

 

I don't think the ideal of uniforming is inferior; rather, the product available isn't up to par.

 

When this happens, folks will circumvent the reg and do what works for them.

 

I think this is true for the uniform reg itself. It's an administrative publication, after all.

[John-in-KC]

Why is this thread still in the advancement forum? It's about wearing the Eagle patch, not about earning Eagle...

[scoutmaster52]

Maybe I should repost this differently. In my opinion the uniform guidelines should be changed to allow those who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout the option to wear the oval rank patch.

 

It still is my opinion that outsiders who see the rank understand it and do not understand the knot.

[BDPT00]

You make it sound like someone might care.

BDPT00

[CHLees3rd]

SM52,

 

You wrote, "In my opinion the uniform guidelines should be changed to allow those who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout the option to wear the oval rank patch. It still is my opinion that outsiders who see the rank understand it and do not understand the knot."

 

That is probably true, but does it really matter? Only if the outsider sees you in uniform and asks if you are an Eagle Scout. As an Eagle Scout who had his Eagle BOR seventeen days after his eighteenth birthday, I have always worn the Eagle knot and never had a problem with it.

 

This is how I handle the question when outsiders see me in uniform and ask. I point to my Eagle knot and proudly say, "Yes, I am an Eagle Scout. This knot patch represents that I became an Eagle Scout as a youth. Boy Scouts wear the Eagle badge and adults wear the Eagle knot." In three easy sentences, I just informed the outsider how to tell which Scouters they see in uniform are Eagle Scouts by pointing out my little red, white, and blue knot. Quick, simple, informative, and it jives with the current insignia guide. No change needed!

 

Yours in Scouting,

Chazz Lees

 

[Miquin1978]

I suppose one way you could show the layman you are a scouter who earned the Eagle while a youth you could wear a NESA patch as a temporary patch on the right pocket. Assuming you can find the appropriate size patch of course(This message has been edited by Miquin1978)

[Narraticong]

I don't think NESA provides such a temporary patch.

 

Also, I am considering giving up my membership to NESA. In my opinion it is no more than a resource for National to tap potentially successful ($$$) folks for more money.

 

Ken

[desertrat77]

Narraticong, I've been questioning NESA motives as well, lately. Of all my wanderings in the military, never detected any NESA groundswell. It is kind of weird.

 

Of course, it could relate to to some of the viewpoints expressed in this thread.

[BadenP]

Here is one possible solution, redesign the Eagle knot with a small Eagle head superimposed in the middle of the knot. This might make SM52 and some others happy, and maybe give the knot a little more significance, just my 2cents.

[Bando]

BadenP, that's a GREAT idea.