OA Scout without a Troop?

[Expat93]

So my son is an Eagle Scout and really doesn't want anything to do with his troop.   He's very involved in the OA and wants to continue with them, but out troop is saying. that he cannot be an OA member without being a Troop Member.  Is this true?   Is it All or nothing?  Our troop fees are ridiculous and he gets zero benefit.  He's 16 years old, does he have to quit everything completely?  The troop is 95% new scouts.

Thanks for the Help

[InquisitiveScouter]

1 hour ago, Expat93 said:

So my son is an Eagle Scout and really doesn't want anything to do with his troop.   He's very involved in the OA and wants to continue with them, but out troop is saying. that he cannot be an OA member without being a Troop Member.  Is this true?   Is it All or nothing?  Our troop fees are ridiculous and he gets zero benefit.  He's 16 years old, does he have to quit everything completely?  The troop is 95% new scouts.

Thanks for the Help

As a youth, he must be a registered member of a unit in order to keep his OA membership active.  It can be any unit he chooses.

If he is not going to be a member of his "old" Troop, then he could transfer and recharter with a different unit.

That said, the primary duty of any Arrowman is to serve his unit, not the lodge.  If he only wants to serve in the lodge, then he is kinda missing the point of the OA.

[BetterWithCheddar]

I agree with @InquisitiveScouter. If your son enjoys the comradery of scouts his own age, is there a Crew or Ship nearby?

[DannyG]

An Eagle scout with that much experience would be a boon to a troop that is 95% new scouts. He'd make a great Troop Guide or JASM. But if he's outgrown the troop,  looking to take the next step in adventure, look into Venturing or Sea Scouts. He has to belong to a scouting unit somewhere to continue OA.

[Wëlënakwsu]

He could consider joining the Troop of an OA friend. How active he will be is another matter.  
In my long ago OA days a number of older Scours did that for the same or similar reasons as your son.

Side comment: my biased opinion is that my Lodge was at its best when it was akin to a fraternity of older Scouts in Troops and under 21 summer camp staff who were unattached to Units but members of a Unit the Council created solely to register them in the BSA.

[BetterWithCheddar]

On 11/1/2023 at 8:01 AM, Wëlënakwsu said:

Side comment: my biased opinion is that my Lodge was at its best when it was akin to a fraternity of older Scouts in Troops and under 21 summer camp staff who were unattached to Units but members of a Unit the Council created solely to register them in the BSA.

As a youth in my home council, each camp staff also had a Venturing Crew. This may have been an attempt by the council to juice up its unit count in the early days of Venturing, but it also allowed staff members to register with the BSA when they were no longer affiliated with local units. This mainly covered college students who became estranged from their Troops, but a few junior staffers from weaker troopers opted to shed their Troop-level registration in favor of the camp-chartered Crew. A small number even completed their Eagle work through the Crew. Is this still a thing?

[mrjohns2]

9 hours ago, BetterWithCheddar said:

Is this still a thing?

Not as much as all staff have to register as “camp staff employee” or something. This stops the “camp staff unit” concept from being necessary. Our council’s camp staff crew added away pretty quickly.