Re: Green loops on tan uniform shirt
William H. Sills (whs@idcnet.com)
Thu Apr 30 17:49:43 1998
James A. Wells said: "Strangely, there don't appear to be any shoulder
loop regulations for Sea Scouts....=)"
The reason for that is because Sea Scouts have been separate since the
"very "beginning" when Lord BP and his eldest brother Warrington created
them as the BSA's older boy program. Sea Scouts were placed in the
"Exploring Division" ifor administrative purposes in the fifties and then
'officially' called Sea Explorers. Almost none of us ever used that name.
We retained "Sea Scouts"!!! Now that is, thankfully, again our 'official'
name.
Sea Scouts have worn nautical uniforms since the program's
inception. In the USA, we have been authorized by the BSA and the USN to
wear modified US Navy uniforms since the early 20's. To ensure that Sea
Scouts were not mistaken for US Naval personnel, our uniforms have been
modified with silver BSA insignia instead of USN gold buttons, badges,
chin straps, etc. The "dixie cup" (Fighting Bob Evans) has a Sea Scout
emblem and "bugs" cover each of the stars on the bib of the "Donald Duck"
suit. In addition, we have royal blue ties and neckerchiefs instead of
black and wear four instead of six coat buttons. That makes our uniform
similar to a yacht club blazer as opposed to a Naval or Merchant Marine
officer's blouse.
The "High Adventure Explorers" are the remnants of the real
"Explorer Scouts" or "Green Weenies" as they were fondly monikered. That
was a land based "High Adventure" program that was copied from Sea
Scouting. Explorer Scouts wore distinctive green uniforms and could earn
the "Ranger" or "Silver" Awards. Those awards were land based copies of
the Sea Scout QUARTERMASTER TRACK. They both even began with the
Apprentice rank.
When BSA went through the "Massacre of 1965", traditional Senior
Scouting programs were de-emphasized. (Air Scouting and Rover Scouting
were abolished) Later, even the green uniform was dropped. After the
"Yves St. Laurent" uniforms were adopted, all land Scouters were
encouraged to wear the tan uniform with a distinctive shoulder loop. Blue
was for Cubs, Orange for Varsity, Red for Boy Scouts, Silver for District
& Council officials and Gold for for Area, Regional and National
officials. Green was designated as the distinguishing loop for Explorers.
Since the separate Sea Scouts retained their identity and
distinctive USN style uniform and did not wear the BSA's "land" uniform,
they remained unmistakably recognized as Sea Scouts. Further, naval
uniform shirts do not have epaulets. Ergo, there never was a need for
shoulder loops.
Since Sea Scouts have happily regained their identity and
retained their traditional uniform, it would seem only fair to have "High
Adventure"/traditional Explorers/Venturers retain the distinctive green
uniforms they have worn since the thirties. After all, the LFL/Career
Awareness Explorers wear their "specialty" uniforms so they have no need
to wear BSA green.
Long-winded trivia strikes again!!!
YISS;
Bill Sills
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