Placement of Rank Pin

[gwd-scouter]

In our Troop, we present the appropriate rank pin to a Scout immediately after he passes his BOR for that rank as an instant recognition. Then, when we have the Court of Honor (could be several months later) the Scout is awarded his card and patch.

 

Where is the correct placement for the rank pin on the uniform?

 

 

[ASM416]

I could very well be wrong, and if I am someone will say so, but I don't believer there is a place for the pins. The most correct place for them might be on their hats, but I dunno.

 

In our troop we give them the patch right away. We feel that as soon as a rank is earned it should be displayed on the uniform. At the COR we hand out the card that would go with the patch.

 

Tim

[anarchist]

gwd-scouter,

 

The badge of rank is just that... a badge... not the pin. The night the boy earns his rank he should be given the patch to sew on for the next meeting. BSA says he earns the rank and he is the rank...so let him wear the rank ASAP. We have a troop gather for closing and at that time all boys have completed a BoR are... one by one... called forward and honored for earning rank. They are given their rank patch by the SM right then and there.

 

The card and the pin are given at the court of honor in front of friends, family and the troop... there is absolutely no good reason to delay allowing them to wear the patch...so please modify you troop tradition let them wear the bagde with pride as long as possible...heck by the time you get to a CoR I can see several boys need ing two rank patches and never "getting" to were the lower rank...

Think about it

 

Anarchist

[Region 7 Voyageur]

The rank pin (which is not the same as the mother's pin, it is larger) is worn in the same place as a rank patch, the left pocket. A scout does not wear both a rank pin and a rank patch. The First Class rank pin may also be worn by youth on the front of the campaign hat or the expedition hat. Reference: Page 25 of the Insignia Guide 2005

 

In the council that I serve in a troop must turn in an advancement report in order to purchase rank badges or pins. It is frowned on to keep an inventory on hand for immediate recognition. We present a scout with his rank patch at the meeting following his BOR after turning in the advancement report and purchasing the patch.(This message has been edited by Region 7 Voyageur)

[scoutldr]

Ditto here. Can't buy a patch without an advancement report. Won't happen the same night as a BOR. We use the pins. The downside is that when the patch is awarded, it seldom makes it onto the uniform before the next one is awarded.

[jr56]

Same with us. I would like to give immediate recognition, but the advancement form must be turned in first. If you award a rank pin, it is placed on the left pocket instead of the patch.

[ASM416]

Why not turn in the advancement report after the BOR and award the Rank patch at the next meeting? There really is no reason to wait until a COH. I recall when I was a scout we always had to wait until a COH to get our patches. Looking back I would have rather had them right away.

 

Tim

[kraut-60]

I really have to agree with Anarchist here. Being able to immediately hand a scout his newly earned rank patch is very good for a scouts morale when he has completed a BoR successfully, as well as showing the rest of the scouts that progress is recognized ASAP.

 

I believe we should be able to mantain an on hand stock of no more than 2 of ranks Scout through Life. This would ensure the ability to award when completed as well as allow scouts who own both long and short sleeve shirts to keep their uniforms current with their earned rank.

 

Our troop practices immediate recognition while still getting the Advancement report in to council within 48-72 hours. Yes, we have been able to maintain a stock of rank emblems, but we have them under lock and key.

 

Not to be a UP, but the large 1st class pin is as stated for youth wear on the campaign or expedition hats, but only by youth who are 1st class rank. I believe the program was/is called "First class emphasis" that laid down the requirement. I think it gives the scouts a visible goal to shoot for, and though its just MHO,the First class emblem has always been the insignia I most associate as representing scouting,..I remember fondly when the 1st class emblem was the center of all the leaders patches with only changes of background color and color of the outline/eagle and-or wreath surround/lack of wreath surround identifying ones position without needing an embroidered title on the patch.

[Vigil-Hiker]

Rank pin?

 

What is a rank pin?

 

You must be refering to Parent Pins that may be given to the parent that match their son's rank from Scout to Life. They are to show the Prent's pride in the hard work their son is doing and to recognize the support the parents are providing their son.

 

It took me 5 minutes to figure it out, and I am working with Cub Scouts for 2 more years until my son crosses over. My troop, when I became a Boy Scout 20+ years ago, presented the mothers with a Scout parent pin upon their son achieving the Scout rank during a candle-lit ceremony. This was rather easy to earn since most of us started as Cub Scouts 3-4 years earlier(Tiger cubs did not exist then).

 

My understanding is that Immediate Recognition is the presentation of the beads on the Trail to First-Class (like Tiger thru Bear in Cub Scouts). Rank patches are presented after Progress Toward Rank is sent to Council with the patch(es) order at next Court of Honor(or Pack meeting for Cubs). Troops should plan to have their COH about 2-3 weeks after a BOR.

 

We alway had an nice one for the younger Scouts earning their first rank of Scout, simple ones for the others, and an elaborate one for Eagle. We had a campfire program ~ 3-4 weeks after summer camp to present merit bagdes earned and any Ranks completed.

 

We usually ordered 2 patches per boy once they reached First-Class, since it takes longer to earn the merit badges. The boys usually had a short sleeve and long shirt by then. That way sew twice, instead of: sew, remove to transfer, sew again, remove to transer, sew again as the seasons changed. After all, not all areas have easy to find Merit Badge Counselers with very open schedules.

[kraut-60]

There are two sizes availible at our council store,the normally seen "mothers" pin and a larger pin varying in size from about 3/4" in diameter to over 1" for the 1st class pin.

 

I dont see very many full size rank pins being worn by boys. The pin can be seen in the current leaders catalog on a scout wearing the expedition hat, dont recall the page offhand though.

[gwd-scouter]

Good advice from all. I guess my effort to institute some kind of immediate recognition was done the wrong way. Over the years our Troop only held 2 COH a year and that was when ranks and merit badges were given out. One was just before summer camp and the other around Christmas Time. I KNOW that COH should be held more often!

 

The reason I figure we haven't done awarding of the rank badge immediately is that our council office is over an hour's drive away. Not very convenient to be popping up to the office just to pick up one badge. Since our council office does not require the advancement sheet to buy the pins, I thought it would be a nice way to offer immediate recognition (I could buy several of each at a time).

 

But, you guys are making a very good point. I will have this discussion with Troop Committee and start to work toward immediate presentation of rank badges rather than the pins. Then we will present cards/pins and parents' pins at COH.

 

I do have another concern about that. What is your experience with Scouts having already received their badge not showing up for COH?

[kraut-60]

At the COH our troop had last month, my son who earned his Star rank on 1-2-06 and had the patch the same night was in the gym of the church shooting baskets while the rank recognition part of the COH was going on. He had been sent there to re-direct folks who went there as the COH was held in a different room and he "forgot" that he had to come back by 7pm.

 

I posed the topic question to a scout yesterday and in the scouts opinion receiving your rank badge as soon as they earn it is important to them,they know the card and pin will be at COH. I was told they like getting the patch first so it can be sewed on before COH.

[ASM416]

Wow, our council service center is about 10 minuets away and on my way to work. An hour is quite a drive. I wouldn't expect anyone to drive an hour each way every week to get patches. Maybe you (or someone) could make the trip once a month? That would still be much faster than twice a year.

 

I also can understand the time between COH's. Having a very small group, currently 8, it takes us awhile to have enough advancement to justify a COH. This is why it is even more important for our boys to have immediate recognition.

 

I would suggest talking it over with you PLC or your troop, depending on how big you are. Let them deside how they want to do it. The whole point of this is to recognize them, maybe they like the pins better.

 

Tim

[emb021]

COHs should be held about 3-4 times a year. As I recall, my old troop did it around Dec/Jan, then toward the end of the school year (around june), then another toward the end of summer/begining of school.

 

This way we could 'kick off' major parts of our year, and hit a time when there were enough awards to give out. We basically gave out the cards, passed out parent pins, and (as appropriate) swore in new officers.

 

As to getting the patches. You should be able to get patches without advancement reports. Keep in mind that some kids may have more then one shirt. How can they get them without giving an advancement report. The policy of 'no patches with a report' is fine when you are trying to make sure units ARE turning in reports, but can be a pain other wise. My old troop kept a stock of skill awards and some rank patches (NO merit badges) on hand to give out for immediate recognition. We ALWAYS turned in our advancement reports, as that was when we got the cards & parent pins.

 

[frankj]

I also never heard of a rank pin. We routinely give out the "mother's" pin at the COH. Our district office recently began a policy of not selling the rank patches or MB patches without an advancement report -- so for us it is not possible to give the rank badge the same night as the BOR, but we usually give them at the next meeting.