Royal Rangers?

[roguedawg]

Hey Scouts,

 

I read the Royal Ranger thread. I thought you would like to hear about Royal Rangers from a Royal Ranger. I grew up in scouts all the way from Cubs, Webelos, Scouts, Law Enforcement Explorer Post, OA to Eagle Scout and left scouts after being engaged when I was 26. My dad was SM and my brother and I were heavly involved. I love scouts! My troop had great leadership and grew from 5 boys with 2 adults, to about 55 scouts and about 15 adults leaders. I went right up the leadership from PL, SPL, JAS, ASM, and SM. I help start another troop, and worked with other smaller troops. Scouting was big in the surrounding towns I lived in. We even had about 10% of the guys I graduated with earned their Eagle Scout rank. Scouting was a major impact on my life and others.

 

After we got married, we decided to attend an Assemblies of God church and was approached to start a Royal Ranger Outpost and be the Senior Commander (2 White Captain Bars). There are some differences between Scouts and RR's, but more similarities. I believe that I run the outpost more like a scout troop than an outpost. Can you take the scout out of a scout?

 

As scoutldr said concerning the RR uniform. This man was out of uniform. Our uniform dress code is much more strict than scouts. 4 rows of ribbons are out of spec. Blue jeans is definately out of specs. I wear my ribbons as an example to the boys rather than for bragging rights. (The solid colors represent that different colored boarders of merit badges. The multicolored ribbons are training or achievement awards) Khaki Dickies shirts and pants are very common and cheap. We are as well changing our uniforms to the duel shorts/cargo pants (navy blue) and Khaki shirt. We have our dress uniform for Uniform Sunday once a month (like 12 Scout Sundays) and a utility uniform for camping rappelling, paintball, ect.

 

click23 is corect. RR is used to Reach, Teach, and Keep boys for Jesus Christ. RR is to train up boys to serve the Lord in church, in work, in civic duty, in the military, and as missionaries.

 

Gunny2862 may be correct. I don't think you are being negative, but truthfull. In my section, almost all OPs camp all year round, but other OP's do not. I would think that if an OP does not camp, it would be quite boring. I have heard that other OP's do not camp at all. To bad for them. My op had 5 camp-outs this year including a canoe trip and rappelling. Boy lead is a weak area, but that is changing. I am having major struggles getting the boys trained to lead themselves and run a patrol like it should be run. (The boys are still young yet.) I am training up the boys to be leaders not followers. Yes, funding is always an issue. I don't expect the church to "pony up" for my OP. The boys need to earn the money for equipment and camping. I don't want a welfare attitude in the OP. I a definately not going to allow the youth group to ruin my OP equipment! So if we earned it, we can say who can use it...that is if we allow them to use it.

 

allangr1024 is correct. In my old scout troop the leadership was comprised of 5 different denominational churches. Basically the extension of the churches men's ministry. We would compare each other's doctrines openly and without any arguements. My dad would check in with boys pastors to make sure they were active in church and spiritually growing. I would rather have more boys from other churches in my OP. My job as senior commander is to train up leaders and they don't have to be from my church. I would rather they bear fruit in their own church. So far we have boys from CMA's, Baptist, Mennonite, Non-denoms, and our own church boys. I would rather reach out to the boys that don't have a dad in the home.

 

Flyingfish and Novice_Cubmaster - I think this person has a spiritual pride problem. Yes, "The BSA is a Christian organization". I hope you can forgive them for their error. The mother should have said that RR was a (mainly) pentecostal organization.

 

When I attend RR commanders training and other events, I alway wear either my Eagle or my NESA bolo tie. I get mixed responses. I was told to "take it off" since it was not part of the RR uniform. I replied that, "I earned it and I am going to wear it!" and a bolo tie is part of the uniform and not specific bolo is required. Most of the time I am asked "How does the BSA do this or that." So BSA training is injected into RR's. I use both RR materials and most of my scout materials. Almost all of the RR OP's hold the BSA in very high regard.

 

I know this is the exception and not the rule for BSA leaders. My son was invited to join cub scouts. I visited several packs and I was not impressed with the leaders at all. I saw several leaders smoking and swearing while in uniform screaming at the boys. They were also bashing and cutting down the cubmaster. (From my old troop mind you) Their uniforms were in terrible shape with holes in jeans, long hair, and they smelled like they slept in them. They were not a good representation of scouting and did not follow the scout oath or law. I would never have my boy in that pack. I called the CM and informed him of the problem.

 

I do know that there are many other packs and troops out there that are very good. If my son wants to get into cubs, I would let him go and help out. I would love it if he earned his Eagle and his GMA (Gold Medal of Achievement). I just signed up as a merit badge councilor, so perhaps I will get back into scouts as well as be in RR's. I am in it for the boys anyways. I already have a chest and I don't need a medal pin to put on it.

 

So why am I in RR instead of scouts? I asked the Lord to provide me with a good wife. I also promised him that I would do missions if he did. So he kept his word and I am keeping mine. God holds us to our vows. If the Lord says, "Return to scouts", I will.

 

Some differences between BSA and RR's. Military BDU's are quite acceptable to be worn on camp outs. BSA frowns on this. I think this is due to the strict uniforms and may change with the new utility uniforms come out this year. I wear dessert camo or khaki cargos when I am camping or doing outside activities.

 

Tentage - I see more trailers used hauling a lot of heavy gear like garage awnings which are used a barrack style tentage. 20 boys in one tent? Sounds like a headache to me. I prefer a 2 man dome tent so the boys can buddy up.

 

Leadership structure - I am the senior commander which oversees 4 age groupings based on grades. Ranger Kids (K-2), Discovery Rangers (3-5), Adventure Rangers (6-8), and Expedition Rangers (9-12). I want to have two group leaders (Two Blue Captains bars or a single blue bar) in each age grouping. Yeah right, like thats going to happen. So I group the three older groups together like a scout troop. A leaders conduct in church and outside of church is very scutinized. Training is much harder than scouts. Women are not allowed to teach in the DR,AR, or ER groups, but I my OP I have a woman that is getting trained up as a leader and she works with the older boys. She does a good job at it too. She just can't go camping. At least for now in the US. Outside the US, not a problem. Believe me, it is much more of a challenge to run a RR OP than it is to run a scout troop.

 

Merits - we have Bible merits as well as Skill merits. A certain number of each is required for rank. Some merits are 4 times as hard as scout merit badges. One badge in particular I wish the BSA would adopt. It is the Bachelor Merit. After teaching that one, I didn't want any boy giving me reasons why his mom did not iron his uniform. It is up to him to iron his own shirt and pants! (older boys)

 

Camping - It is not the main focus of RR to camp, but it is a very important tool to be used to work with the boys. It does not make to much sense how good a camper a boy is if he spends an eternity in hell. In the eternal outcome, I would rather lead a boy to the Lord and teach him how to get to heaven than to teach him how to light a fire. There is more than enough fire in hell.

 

Campfire programs - I have been to some very good scout campfires, but almost all of the RR campfire/worship services were awesome. It is common for them to go on for several hours. I have seen so many lives changed after a campfire service.

 

Paid staff - We have about a dozen paid staff at the national level. All are ordained pastors and most are GMA's. Everyone else are volunteers. RR is a ministry not a business. The local BSA DE in my area is so awesome. He will do very well to build up the local troops. I really like the guy.

 

A really big difference is "ROTY" which is Ranger of the Year. A RR earns points based on merits earned, advancement, attendance, participation in school, sports, missions, grades, ect. They are awarded OP ROTY and go up to the sectional level, up to regional level and then national ROTY. It takes into consideration the entire boy not just his OP activities.

 

What is common to both groups? The Boys. That is why we do what we do. We want them to turn out to be good men, leaders, workers, and fathers. What do we want in return? Nothing but a thank you or a smile. Do I get an "Amen" in agreement?!

 

I didn't mean to write a book. I hope this has help everyone to understand RR. If you have questions, feel free to PM me. I also post on Rangerforums.com. I know that some scouters post there as well. God bless. RD