Scoutmaster Minutes
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LATEST POSTS
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One of my local Scouters posed a good point to consider. BSA went to court to avoid militarism in the early days and pushed many early groups out, absorbing them or just letting them dry up, so to speak. But, the cooperation of the Government and military with Scouting has been a mainstay of the program ver the years, and not just at Jamborees. Support for many early Sea Scout groups was directly related to naval bases and the Coast Guard. But it was mostly symbiotic in that the Scouts got contact and excitement, and the military groups got opportunities to work with larger groups in organization and staging, and so on. Indirectly, the selling of War Bonds was part of this as well. Of course, most interactions were peripheral much of the time. Tours and on-base campsites were often available at larger installations. Our troop, for years, camped annually at Edwards and also went to Air Shows there on those camping weekends. All went away with 9-11. A concern has been noted that we need to seriously consider what a merit badge for Military Service might entail, but it is a bit dicey on the surace, and I would not want to see something that could put pressure in some manner to join. -
By InquisitiveScouter · Posted
No, they do not. They "lose" out on a great opportunity because most leaders neither understand nor abide by the Scout Oath and Law. In a previous discussion here, a leader, who is supposed to have a lot of time dealing with Scouting, made some of the same errant statements you have made, and showed a deep unfamiliarity with the basic values and the texts we are supposed to be teaching Scouts from. Let's not... the badge is gone. Please focus instead on the exact values, texts, and verbiage mentioned in the thread above, in the Scout Oath and Law, and their explanations in the Scout Handbook, to help the Scouts in your unit understand what they are pledging at each and every meeting (or should be). You have many many opportunities to do this through their rank advancements... You comment indicates you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the Scout Oath and Law, the rank requirements, and many other merit badges available which cover topics like these. (granted, many of those merit badges are not required for advancement) As an adult leader, you have hundreds (almost?) of opportunities throughout a Scout's "career" to address these types of issues. Yet, you abdicates your responsibility to model and develop character and citizenship to a (now defunct) merit badge which many Scouts wait until they are far along in the program to earn??? A few references: Rank requirements: Requirements 1a & 1b: https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Scout-Rank.pdf and specifically, requirement 6b. With links here: https://www.scouting.org/training/youth/scouts-bsa/ (required again at Star rank) Requirements 7b & 9: https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Tenderfoot-Rank.pdf Requirements 8e, 9a, 9b, & 10: https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Second-Class-v2.pdf Requirements 9a, 9d, & 11: https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/First-Class.pdf Requirements 2 & 6b https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Star-Rank.pdf Requirement 2: https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Life-Rank.pdf See page 21, Requirement 2: https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/3321625-Scouts-BSA-Requirements.pdf (oddly enough, no direct link to Eagle requirements, but they are there in the Requirements Book) Requirement 1: https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Eagle-Palms.pdf ---------------------------- Eagle required Merit Badges: Family Life, 6b2: https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/family-life/ Citizenship in the Community: 1, 3b, 5 & 8: https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/citizenship-in-the-community/ Citizenship in the Nation: 4b: https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/citizenship-in-the-nation/ Citizenship in the World: 1, 2, and some of 7: https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/citizenship-in-the-world/ Communication: 1b & c, & 5: https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/communication/ ------------------------------------------------------------- And sprinkled into some of these electives: https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/disabilities-awareness/ https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/american-cultures/ https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/cybersecurity/ https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/crime-prevention/ And, using your logic, I will rephrase your statement: "This is why I feel Scouting America's executive leadership has sold out to the current DEI Movement. By adding Citizenship in Society merit badge -- and not highlighting that these ideas are fundamental to the Scout Oath and Law, and deeply inherent in our program, the Scouting America leadership has effectively stated that our existing program and the requirements we have painstakingly developed HAVE NO MERIT. And that's just wrong." If BSA was serious about this, way back then, instead of trying to spring into the fray of virtue signaling, they would have made this a requirement for joining, or for earning Scout rank. -
Our Scouts lose by not going through the requirements of the Citizenship in Society merit badge. Let's go through a few of them (quoting from https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/citizenship-in-society/ ) This exercise requires Scouts to learn the denotations of each of these terms so to become a better human being: Identities (this is not just pronouns; it also has to do with religious and ethnic identities as well) Diversity Equality vs Equity (they are DIFFERENT) Inclusion Discrimination Ethical leadership (a fish rots from the head down, as does an organization and a government) Upstander (we don't have enough of people doing this) Image source: https://www.diffen.com/difference/Equality-vs-Equity I'm not sure of anywhere else in the Scouting program makes Scouts think about these particular scenarios. I grew up with classmates making fun of disabilities with jokes like "What do you call a man with no arms and no legs who floats in the water? Answer: Bob". Our current President ridicules women ("Quiet piggy!", "grab them by the p*ssy", "she had blood coming out of...whatever", "we're going to have to bring the women's team",...need I go on? ). That "go back home where you came from" statement...gee, why does that sound familiar? These scenarios force a Scout to mentally prepare for situations where they WILL come up in the future, making it easier to do the right thing and stand up for whomever is being attacked. We ask Scouts during Boards of Review what they'd like to change about the Troop. A few times now a Scout has mentioned that older Scouts are not always being welcoming to the younger Scouts. Requiring Scouts to THINK about welcoming in newcomers -- and making sure all Scouts feel they can be full participants -- is very important for the cohesion of the Troop. Or to quote Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird: This is why I feel Scouting America's executive leadership has sold out to the current Presidential leadership. By removing the Citizenship in Society merit badge -- and not transplanting these requirements into other merit badges, the Scouting America executive leadership has effectively stated that the requirements of the merit badge HAVE NO MERIT. And that's just wrong. -
Watch towers where fun as kid. (12-15 FT) If lashing were good ,rope was good, poles were good. People overseeing its construction understud weight limits centers of gravity, fall risks base ratios ect. Too many did not so failure was high falls greater 6 feet have more fatal results. So no more towers we can look at other ban activities with the same eye. -
Breaking people out into different groups does not solve the problem. Since the beginning of the movement we have used things such as uniforms to make it easier for everyone to blend in together. We're supposed to be on the same team; however, it would appear that we're not. Special interests have been trying to create special sub groups for a long time and it has repeatedly floundered or outright failed. We've had all these other groups, and all these other groups are barely hanging on. If all the trans kids wanted to be separate they could be, over in Rainbow Scouts; if all the hardline religious scouts wanted to be separate they could go join Trail Life or one of the other church based youth groups. As bad as things are in Scouting America, the other groups are worse and they are all an example of how division into sub-groups only weakens the opportunity to youth. We don't need separate groups, what we need is equal opportunity and a focus on the true mission of the organization. Notice that no one is being kicked out of Scouting America; Hegseth didn't demand it, Roger Krone didn't say anything about that in his letter. What is clear is that in order to maintain millions of dollars of support from the military we have to re-align towards the military; that is what was clearly said by Hegseth and Krone. I think that's the real problem here, that's what people are really angry about but too cowardice to state. The scouting movement is born from Western military tradition, and scouting in America just got it's wake up call.
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