Which insignia?

[oldsm]

My son earned Eagle just before he turned 18. He scheduled his ECOH for this coming January so that a lot of his friends (who are off to college) will be able to attend during the winter semester break.

 

He has been asked to speak at a major Council event in late November attended by probably 400 major financial supporters of the local Council. His role is to speak to his experiences as a Boy Scout and how it helped to shape who he is.

 

He is expected to be in uniform. He is registered as an ASM in the troop, but also maintains his membership in a Crew (although I'm pretty certain he's speaking as a Boy Scout representative - no as a Crew member).

 

His question (and mine): What insignia can/should be on his BS uniform? I don't believe he's put on his ASM position patch yet - still has the JASM patch in place. The Life rank badge is still there. He would LIKE to be arrayed as an Eagle, which in fact he is, even though he has not yet been presented with his Eagle insignia. Would it be tacky to let him wear the Eagle medallion for this special occasion, then retrieve it until it can be formally presented at his ECOH in January?

[HawkUH60]

I earned my eagle before going to the 91 world jamboree. I worn the rank patch. No problems with it. The COH is a fomality. I would suggest he wear the eagle patch but take it off for his COH. I would not wear the medal until presented.

[click23]

I would say wear they ASM patch with his eagle knot, and take the eagle knot off at the COH.

[ScoutNut]

Your son is no longer a youth in his BSA Troop. Only youth members can wear rank insignia.

 

He should update his BSA uniform by taking off all of his youth insignia, including his Life rank and JASM patch. Put on his current position patch (ASM), and the trained patch if he has completed his ASM training.

 

As far as Eagle goes, the BSA Insignia Guide states that adults wear the Eagle medal on formal Eagle occasions only. Other than that, adults wear the Eagle square knot (#05011).

 

 

[CNYScouter]

Since your son is already 18 he should remove the Life Scout rank and JASM POR patch from his uniform.

 

As others pointed out the ECOH is a formality.

The date he reached Eagle is his BOR date.

An adult can wear the Eagle medal for COHs and other special occasions.

 

For this major council event I would have him wear the Eagle medal and not have him sew on the Eagle knot only to take it off at a later date.

 

As this is for 400 major financial supporters of the local Council I would think about the impression he wants to make to this group and wearing the Eagle medal makes a big impression, much bigger than him wearing an Eagle knot.

 

As far as the ASM patch I wouldnt worry about having it sewn on for just this event and can wait until after his ECOH to have it sewn on.

 

[Eagle92]

If possible, let him Wear the venturing uniform with his eagle badge, Eagle and other medals and OA sash if a member for two reasons.

 

1) Uniform regs allow venturers to wear eagle patch until 21

2) Promotes a " new" program that the BSA has that not many outside the Scouting community know about.

 

[Buffalo Skipper]

I agree with most of those here.

 

Once he earns his Eagle, he should be able to wear the rank emblem on his uniform (assuming he is below the age of 18). Like any other rank, he is entitled to wear it once he passes his BoR. I do not feel that he should wear the rank emblem if he is over 18 on his Boy Scout uniform, if he were to wear an ASM patch.

 

Personally (not the consensus, I know), I would be less concerned about his being 18. His audience is financial supporters. How many of them are going to know he just turned 18 and should not be wearing the rank instead of the knot? I just finished a rant on another page about perception. If he is to speak from the perspective of a Boy Scout, then it is important to their perception to show them a Boy Scout, not an adult. If he is there representing the crew, then have him in his Venturing shirt with the Eagle patch.

 

Just my $.02(This message has been edited by Buffalo Skipper)

[Beavah]

Yah, Oldsm, here's a different tack for yeh.

 

Have your son ask whoever is putting the event together what they would prefer.

 

It may be they would prefer him to wear his youth uniform, because what they are tryin' to convey to people is the experience of a youth. That includes talkin' with your son before or after his speech about what the (youth) patches mean, his MB sash, etc. Including his Eagle patch, but not da medal. Save the medal for the COH.

 

Or it may be they want to convey a young-adult-product-of-the-program impression, in which case he should wear his ASM uniform with the Eagle square knot.

 

Someone spent a lot of time putting this event together, eh? And they thought your son was perfect to keynote it. That's high praise! He should return the honor by respecting their wishes, and helping them achieve the result/effect they want to the best of his ability. The future campin' opportunities of a lot of scouts may depend on it!

 

Beavah

 

[SSScout]

Beavah has a good point, but so does Scoutnut, CNY Scouter and others.

 

Oldsm son could present himself as the audience might expect. He could present himself as his membership and rank exist. He could present himself in some hybrid combination. And probably only he would know. Perhaps that is the most important consideration. What does HE consider himself to be.

Is he a Scout? A Venturer? An adult ASM leader?

If I was asked to speak about my time as a Scout, I would certainly not come in my Scout uniform (even if it fit!). I could wear my UC uniform or my ASM uniform or come in a suit and tie with Scout lapel pins and Scout tie, and still speak well about being a Scout and how THAT helped shape me.

 

If he has passed his Eagle, he may represent that on whatever he clothes himself in. Patches, pins, medals, knots all have their proper and correct place. I would counsel him to decide what he is NOW and present himself properly to reflect that.

 

At a recent CSDC, a (very) youthful DE came by in his old Scout uni. We used him as an example to the Cubs as an "historic" artifact. We pointed to all the stuff on it and explained how he wore his Scout history for all to see. But it was understood that this was his OLD uni and not where he was NOW.

 

A Scout is Trustworthy. How Scouting has shaped oldsm's son has led him to what he is now. What is it, now?

[NobleUncas246]

I think he should wear the tan uniform to the meeting out of the visibility of that uniform being the "public" uniform, and have an Eagle patch of some sort. I would do the knot with the medal, and just leave the knot on till the ceremony.

 

For the Venturing uniform, I would actually skip the badge... At least in my experience, I wore knots out of respect because the youth females (well all females) can't earn a RANK badge of any kind and wear it on that pocket. If you want green knots, visit - http://www.sageventure.com/store/knots.html for proper matching green themed knots.

 

If you become a Life Member of the National Eagle Scout Association, remember to get the new knot with the Silver Border, and wear the blue rope tips of the knot pointing towards the OA flap pocket (either NESA or regular version).

 

"The new square knot may be purchased by NESA Life Members who show their NESA Life Member card at their local Scout shop. If they dont have them in stock, they can order one for you. The item number is 18092. You may buy one for each uniform you have."

 

Just my thoughts, I was in a similar predicament when I was the OA lodge chief and I wore the knot with medal in a tan uniform. Get it pressed for the big day!