From: pershng@US.IBM.COM
Date: Wed Aug 30 2000 - 20:17:21 CDT
> ...Does anyone know the original reasoning behind providing the
> option of a Scoutmaster-assigned leadership project as an
> alternative to the "officially" recognized positions of
> responsibility?
I don't know the reasoning, but this "alternative" was in place in *my* Boy
Scout Handbook (I'm dating myself here) copyright 1965, with a cost (for
the book) of $1.00 (now I'm *really* dating myself!). As Mike Walton
noted, the requirement was to "serve actively as a troop warrant officer or
carry out a Scoutmaster-assigned project to help the troop". This was only
for Star and Life; for Eagle it was "serve actively as a troop warrant
officer", period.
I can only presume that this had to do with big troops, where there weren't
enough warrant offices to go around. In my troop, there were generally 4
patrols of about 8 to 10 boys each, and the PLs mostly didn't rotate (kept
getting reelected). So, if more than 1/8 of the boys wanted to go for
Star, then some of them had to go with troop projects rather than being PL.
(As with PLs, the troop leadership was also very stable: the SPL when I
crossed over remained as SPL for about 2 years.)
John A. Pershing Jr. <pershng@us.ibm.com>
ACM Pack 36 / ASM (I think...) Troop 36, Westchester-Putnam (NY)
Council
