How often do uniform inspections should be done?

[justmescout]

OK guys, this subject might have been discussed before but just follow my lead for a while and help me out here. How important are uniform inspections? Are they mandatory or what's the protocol with that? I am asking because at our last Court of Honor we had a few scouts receiving 2nd class, 1st class, star and life ranks but their uniform shirts are only displaying the Unit's numbers. No patch of rank, position, patrol or any other patches, just the insignias that come with the shirt out of the store! These are scouts that have been in the Unit for over 2 years and noone is saying anything? What will you do if a scout shows up at his Tenderfoot BOR wearing his Webelos insignia instead of the Scout rank patch? They have all being given the new insignias when they earned them for free! How long is "too long" for a new or seasoned scout to update those insignias? I am too piky? I am fairly new to the Troop but it's alarming to see that no SM, ASM or CC are saying anything about this problem.Should I race the point at the next Committee meeting and call it to the adult leaders' attention and suggest to have a uniform inspection soon? help me out here, I don't want to sound harsh or pushy but isn't Uniform an important part of being a scout?

[Eagle92]

Person to talk to would be the SPL and/or the PLC. I beleive the recommendation is to haev 1 uniform inspection a year by the commissioner staff. However units can conduct them at any time. My old troop had an inspection every weekm as that was part of the inter-patrol competition. Another troop I was a leader with did them 1 per month.

[red feather]

A lot depends on the culture of the troop that you serve. In the one that I serve it is ongoing thing. Some scouts are on time some are not. Takes time and constant focus. Some flap some fly, up to those in charge to determine the wind.

 

yis

 

red feather

[Eamonn]

Think I'm on the same page as red feather.

 

Lord knows that we in this forum have hashed and re-hashed the uniform as a method a lot of times.

My thinking is that we the adults need to work toward creating an environment where the Scouts themselves feel that their uniform is important to them.

I really don't think inviting the Unit Commissioner to turn up armed with his inspection sheet is going to fix or solve anything and might end up with some hurt feelings?

In the past I had a lot of luck with having an inter-patrol competition. The PLC came up with how points were earned and a uniform inspection done by the P/L's was part of it.

Sometimes they inspected the entire uniform, sometimes they choose to just maybe do one part of it. Sometimes they inspected their own Patrol and sometimes another Patrol, the PLC set this up at the PLC meeting.

The competition ran monthly and the winning Patrol got to wear a gold necker th next month.

Eamonn

[mbrownkc7]

My favorite uniform story is the boy who showed up to his Eagle board of review with a Star rank patch and not all of his Eagle required merit badges on his sash. After giving him a really hard time,(We were laughing but he knew I was serious) I told him to make sure he had everything up to date before he came to his Eagle Court.

 

Rank badges not up to date on shirts are an issue with me!!

[Crew21_Adv]

Justmescout,

 

Greetings!

Yes.. This topic has been discussed before, on this forum and a few other Scouting newsgroups and blogs.

 

Here are my thoughts.

 

There are some locations were Scouts (and families) cannot afford a uniform, but there are some strategies to help them out. But in your case, it sounds like they all have uniforms, but are not correctly wearing them or sewing their issued patches on.

 

A few techniques.

 

Find out what will motivate them, i.e. "What's In It For Me?"

 

My troop does a monthly uniform inspection. We only wear full uniform on the first meeting of the month, BOR, COH, and specific occasions. Ever three months, the best patrol (uniform, flag, cheer, etc) receives either pizza or ice cream.

 

 

Eagle92, did offer a good comment. If the Scouts new about a District and Unit Commissioner coming to inspect their troop and uniforms. They Scouts may be happy if they are looking good, or they may also be able to recognize if the Commissioners where just not too happy with their visit.

 

I wouldn't call it public shaming, but if a commissioner commented to the entire troop "I would really like to come back and present a prize to the best patrol, when you guys are ready for me to inspect you. Let me know when I can visit again".

 

A friend has offered this and my troop has tried it on a few occasions. He placed everyone against the wall and put a bowl of candy bars in the middle of the room, and stated, everyone with a Scout shirt take one step forward, everyone wearing the correct rank patch take one step forward, everyone with green Scout socks take one step forward, progressively a few Scouts eliminated themselves, till only the correctly uniformed Scouts received the candy bars.

 

With your unit, it sounds like it won't change overnight. But you will need to convince two groups of returning to a uniformed troop. The committee (such as not conducting a BOR, unless the Scout is ready for a uniform inspection), and the PLC. The PLC should guide the troop as well as set the example, and if they feel that it is their idea to be a better uniformed troop, it will occur much faster.

 

You asked how long is "too long" and you don't want to sound harsh or pushy. Then ask the PLC if they can set a date for a uniform inspection. It will be their plan and their deadline.

 

Good Luck!

 

Scouting Forever and Venture On!

Crew21 Adv

 

[Chug]

We wear full uniform about once a month, except during the sailing season when it's not worn at all. We always have a full uniform inspection when it is worn, and if it doesn't come up to scratch they have to wear it again the following week, and so on until it's perfect.

 

At this years St George's Day Parade all our Explorers noticed how much smarter their uniforms and drill were than the other land groups.(This message has been edited by Chug)

[resqman]

We are a fully uniformed troop. In the past 3 years, we have never had a uniform inspection.

 

By fully uniformed I mean we wear the scout shirt with all the badges, troop neckerchief, scouts pants, scout belt, and scout socks. There is not an offical troop hat. During the summer months, we declare scout oriented T-shirt instead of uniform shirt for all events except BOR and COH.

 

The issues I see are boys who cannot find their neckerchief slide and simply tie it it a knot and lack of scout socks. Commponly the scout socks are overlooked when wearing long pants. The recent Webelo transfers often continue to wear their Webelos badge and other Cub scout stuff for a few months on their tan shirts. I usually pull them aside and mention to them that now they are Boy Scouts, the Cub Scout/Webelos stuff in no longer appropriate and they need to only wear the Boy Scout Stuff. Most earn Scout Rank in the first couple a weeks and have something to put on their shirt pocket.

 

The other common issue is untucked shirt tails. Always one or two who are too busy to finish dressing. I don't ever remember any uniform discussions other than to encourage scouts to tuck in their shirts or reminder that full uniforms are required for BOR and COH. Since we wear the full uniform for all events all the time, it is not really an issue except during the summer "Class B" period.

[nlorey]

In my district, my troop is the only troop that requires the uniform to be worn at all meetings. Sashes are formal wear ONLY, and OA are for OA events only. As far as socks and pants and hats go, we wear green pants/shorts. Many of the boys from my area can't afford the overpriced official wear. We take the uniforms seriously as it shows dedication and professionlism. So, we do monthly random inspections.