Re: Are we about to make TRAINED meaningless?

Chris,

I had not heard about this change. I fully concur with your concerns. I
too have had similiar experiences not only in the military (ex-nuclear
missile launch officer) but also within industry. I have always had the
opinion that the more and better training we have for the adults the more
kids we would have join the Scouts. As a district training chairman at one
time I was able to put this to the test. My team went out of our way to
survey the current leadership, both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, to find out
what difficulties they had in coming up to speed when they took their
current positions. We were amazed at how many little things that were
mentioned. For instance, one scouter lamented that he wished he had a
"comprehensive" package for new scouts. We worked with him with input from
others and developed a generic package for Cubs and one for Scouts with
suggestions on how to personalize it. Another problem was confusion on all
the requirements for a Scout outing. We developed a training syllabus
covering from tour permits to final trip reports (my suggestion). There
were many requests that were readily available but what they needed was
hands-on experience. For instance, how many of you have actually built a
fire using the Official Boy Scout flint and steel kit, the bow-saw method,
steel wool and a battery, etc. I still get letters and e-mail from people
we have helped in understanding many of the concepts of Boy Scouting.

Well I didn't mean to get so long winded. I hope that all of you who agree
with Chris call their local council staff and express their concern about
these changes. We need more training not less training. Maybe some of
those training knots we all wear will take on new or renewed meaning.

Yours in Scouting,

Bob
Robert L. Eskridge
Intelligent Reasoning Systems, Inc.
Box 30001/3ARP
Las Cruces, NM 88003-0001
bob@doug.nmsu.edu
Ph: (505) 646-7682 Fax: (505) 646-7869

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