I'm not worried about that. The acting SM and I are on the same word in the sentence, let alone the same page. We are also the only two adults on the program side who are consistently involved.
I heard a generic phrase along this line that a large number of adults can't pass the physical and that a large number of "trail guides" have been getting used to keep contingents on the trail down at Philmont.
I think the solution to this problem is if you show up and fail the physical you get sent home. Right now if you fail the physical my understanding is that they put your butt up in a cabin somewhere and you chill for a week while your scouts go beat the trail.
I agree with you completely. If it helps, you can truthfully say that Arrows of Light do what what the SM suggested.
I asked my AOLs to complete assembling a first-aid kit as homework for this reason, but the suggested activity from the program for that requirement is to do what the SM suggested. Presumably you should do more for Tenderfoot than AOL.