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"At the risk of being labeled a heretic... If I was in Mazzuca's place, and I was serious about these training requirements, I'd order all Wood Badge courses suspended until no units failed recharter because of a lack of training."

 

Hear! hear!

 

. . . and perhaps . . . "until no unit failed to offer EFFECTIVE IOLS courses, staffed by trainers SKILLED in Scoutcraft"!

 

Tn Scout Troop

 

(In our opinion, Scouting needs Wood badge just about exactly as much as it needs a MB in video games.)

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Last meeting I was reviewing the historic handbooks with the boys and we were going through the requirements for first class. Yep, Morse Code was a requirement. I flippantly said, back in my day, we were real scouts. One of the boys said it wasn't any big deal, he knew Morse Code. I quizzed him and sure enough, he knew it. :) He walks to school every day, up hill in the snow, too.

 

Stosh

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My old SM collected those old handbooks. He taught us morse code, semaphore, tracking, map-making, etc. Of course, once I heard about the historic merit badge program, I told him and earned three of them within the first few months. I am finishing carpentry on Wednsday. I wish they would keep these badges permanately, they were much more fun to work on then the Citizenships and other school-like badges!

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The radio merit badge probably doesn't requires Morse Code anymore because the FCC doesn't require a knowledge of Morse Code for an amateur (ham) radio license anymore. We're sort of technologically past the era when we had to communicate over distances by the pattern of a stick beating on a log, we can just talk with each other now. ;)

 

That being said, it is a fun thing to learn, just like how to redo a broken wicker/rattan chair is a fun thing to learn (and about as useful): http://www.outdoorfurniturefactorys.com/show_OutdoorFurniture.asp?id=249

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Actually, Morse code, being the first digital mode, is still the most useful for getting through when conditions are rough. Uses far less power and is more comprehensible when signal strength is low. There are some digital modes that rival it in low strength readability, but not in the power usage and simplicity of equipment areas.

 

It's far from obsolete yet.

 

Besides, it's fun.

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