Status Of Direct Service Council

[Kahuna]

There seems to be a perception arising somewhere that patches for Direct Service Council, BSA, particularly CSPs, are ceasing to exist. I realize that Direct Service Council itself is somewhat ephemeral, but there were patches as recently as the last National Jamboree. Can anyone clarify this for a friend in Australia who is about to make a big investment in these patches? Bottom line question is: has anything changed as to the status of Direct Service over the last couple of years?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Oak Tree]

I have no actual information on this at all, but this seems like a strange speculation.  The Direct Service Council has 100 units, according to Scouting.org, which does not make it one of the smallest council. Do any of the rumors provide any suggestion on what is supposed to be happening to these patches? Are these troops just not going to wear CSPs? Or is it going to merge with one of the other two overseas councils?  I suppose a merger would always be a possibility, but I'm not sure how exactly that would affect the value of the patches.

 

From scouting.org, it doesn't look like anything has changed recently: http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/DirectService.aspx

[Eagle101]

@Kahuna   -  Direct Service was transferred over to NCAC (National Capital Area Council) a few years back. I was in Direct Service as both a youth (1976-1979) and then multiple times as an adult (Asst. Scoutmaster Panama 1992-1995, and again Scoutmaster 1997-1999) and in Bolivia (Cubmaster) 2008-2010, and finally Ecuador (Cubmaster) 2011-2014. I retired from the Army in 2014 and my son and I became members of NCAC. Due to my experience- I was asked to become a ACC for Direct Service, under NCAC. Seems that Direct Service ceased to exist as we knew it under National in Texas and was passed over to NCAC where it is sub-district. We still have units down in Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada. Other units  were rolled into Eastern Council, and TransAtlantic Council. The CSP for Direct Service is still available through Scoutstuff.org. For a while you had to call them since it was taken off the internet site but it is once again available. Since it is technically under NCAC, units have the option to wear the NCAC CSP or the DS CSP. I think it is neat for units to wear the unique Direct Service CSP so I'm glad it's back. I liked the old white version with the blue globe but the new one is nice also and very colorful. Here it is the linke.....

http://www.scoutstuff.org/bsa/uniforms-insignia/insignia-cloth/required/council-shoulder-patches/csp-direct-service.html#.Wjr4dt-nGM8

 

Edited December 21, 2017 by RememberSchiff
add @Kahuna alert

[RememberSchiff]

@Eagle101 welcome to scouter.com

[Eagle101]

Thanks, had signed up with another name and lost that password. I ended up finding it but will use this one only to avoid confusion. Good to be on board. Thanks. 

 

[Tutavena]

On 12/20/2017 at 5:58 PM, Eagle101 said:

@Kahuna   Seems that Direct Service ceased to exist as we knew it under National in Texas and was passed over to NCAC where it is sub-district.

 

Great info, Eagle. I have to ask: What exactly is the BSA's definition of a "sub district"? I know that districts (technically) don't exist under direct service, itself (obviously both Transatlantic and Far East Councils are considered to be their own entities, with their own regional districts, but are related to Direct Service). Is the sub district treated like a regular district, like those you would see in the Far East and Transatlantic Councils?

 

It's also surprising, that there is a direct service Council, but the direct service (in the Americas) is handled by the NCAC.

[RememberSchiff]

@Tutavena welcome to scouter.com

 

[Tutavena]

Thanks, RememberSchiff. 

[Eagle101]

Tutavena, sorry I hadn't responded sooner. Direct Service is no longer a Council- nor is it a separate office within National anymore. I was part of Direct Service units in Nicaragua, Panama, Bolivia and Ecuador. in 2014 National shut down Direct Service. The number 800 might still appear on Scouter.org but it is no longer valid. Units in other parts of the world fell into Transatlantic and Far Eastern councils. The units in Latin America and Caribbean (Western Hemisphere) were left homeless until National Capital Area Council took them under their wing. They have them as a sub-district because of the unique nature of these units. I was asked to serve as the ACC for these units since I spent a lot of time in them. These Direct Service units- unlike their counterparts in Transatlantic and Far Eastern, really don't have a dedicated council. So NCAC tries to include them in the fold but the needs of these units are way different from Stateside units. Hope that helps.

 

[Tutavena]

On 5/22/2018 at 12:32 PM, Eagle101 said:

Tutavena, sorry I hadn't responded sooner. Direct Service is no longer a Council- nor is it a separate office within National anymore. I was part of Direct Service units in Nicaragua, Panama, Bolivia and Ecuador. in 2014 National shut down Direct Service. The number 800 might still appear on Scouter.org but it is no longer valid. Units in other parts of the world fell into Transatlantic and Far Eastern councils. The units in Latin America and Caribbean (Western Hemisphere) were left homeless until National Capital Area Council took them under their wing. They have them as a sub-district because of the unique nature of these units. I was asked to serve as the ACC for these units since I spent a lot of time in them. These Direct Service units- unlike their counterparts in Transatlantic and Far Eastern, really don't have a dedicated council. So NCAC tries to include them in the fold but the needs of these units are way different from Stateside units. Hope that helps.

 

No, problem. Better late than never I say ☺. Thanks for the info. I'm curious, does the direct service sun district then function pretty much as a regular regional district, then (Albert with much less scouts over a much larger area)?