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Okay, not too far down from my rule #1 (never ask for a rule) is this one from Hezikiah: Don't show the Babylonians the treasury!

We have (had) 2 crews that were to leave on Sunday. Not sure what the options are for them down the road. BSA has an opportunity to really make something positive out of this negative OR they can fumble the ball and alienate their most dedicated and involved youth. I hope they refund all fees AND / OR give them priority for 2019 slots, which may involve adding more slots and trek opportunities For our troop with PSR Fees, ground tours, flights, equipment the 2 crew are in this for $50,000 + Come on BSA National High Adventure bases, the ball is in your court, you did not ask f

I think this resolution leaves out some things that are important to a correct understanding of what the BSA's religion policy actually is, "on the ground." What I am about to say is "old hat" to most of those who read this forum, but unfortunately the vast majority of unit Scouters do not read this forum or any other Internet Scouting forum, to say nothing of Scouts and their non-leader parents, and perhaps more importantly, prospective Scouts and their non-leader parents. Examples: 1, It mentions "Duty to God" a lot, but it doesn't mention that the BSA does not define "Duty to God."

I see it alot scoutmaster pounding his chest over all his years of experience look at me mentality scoutmaster i prefer is lounging in his hammock unnoticed while the boys are out doing their thing

I bolded that because it is spot on. Either National is screwing up royally, is preparing for coed patrols. I have a feeling it is to prepare for coed patrols. Otherwise why do 18-20 year olds not count for YP purposes? And I agree with you. I remember doing hikes as a patrol. I remember patrol meetings without adults. I remember doing my Eagle Project on my own with my fellow Scouts (OK mom was there b/c she drove me, and had snacks for us as we did the project. But she was not registered, and she stayed with the car). After October 1st, the Patrol Method as had been preached and practi

We will probably never know what happened, what decisions were made, whether they were good or bad decisions. And so the rest of us will derive no benefit from the lessons that could be learned here. I have long thought that BSA should send around after action reports on things like this so that other folks can see how things can go wrong, or right, and apply it to their own program. Instead we get a G2SS that has rules, but we never get the real world lessons that can be used to make for better outcomes for everyone in the future.

Just saw this: Obviously, the situation is still very fluid, but Northern Tier is working hard to put together a plan to assist with the crews displaced by the fires near Philmont Scout Ranch. We want to be able to work with as many crews as possible, however we are limited by permit, facility and program capacity. As we assess what we can accommodate over the next few days, information from you will be helpful. Please use the below link to provide us with the details of your Philmont Crew and we will reach out to you once we have more details on what options may be available.

June 4 : Searchers have found two 13-year-old Boy Scouts and two adult troop leaders who separated from the main group of 12 hikers and went missing Sunday night on 10,781-foot snow-covered Mount Baker (Washington). They spent the night in a snow cave. "Mount Baker is about 15 miles from the Canadian border, and all climbing routes up the snow-capped peak in the Cascade Mountain range are technical climbs on glaciers with varying degrees of difficulty." A Navy helicopter airlifted the four off the mountain due to hypothermia and transported to a Bellingham hospital in serious con

Ok I admit it. When I was a trainer, I said the ideal position of a SM was sitting in his camp chair drinking coffee, or for our LDS brethen hot cocoa. But after experiencing "Coffee from the hammock" as Shug Emery suggests, I will go with your idea, but with coffee.

Most days, I'll gladly take credit where it isn't due. But, I'm just the relay. BSA's very own @RichardB takes the trouble blow his committee's horn. I just read and link to them as various threads warrant. The real statistics that I'd like to see (but are nigh impossible to collect) are long term relative risks/benefits. But, that's a different rant.

I wish more folks would realize this. We had a sibling at the meeting last nite running around and distracting folks with their soccer ball. Parents were no where in site.

This seems antithetical to the very foundation and purpose upon which BSA was founded. Scouts were supposed to actively look for ways to serve, and then do them. Both individually and as patrols. Not sit back and wait for the adults to determine and then supervise the operation. Youth need to be allowed to take short flights before they leave the nest. They need to learn that they can plan and accomplish things without the hovering presence of an adult. The task of placing small flags on veterans graves is well within the ability of any patrol to perform on their own. By forcing

What I imagine you are registering as hypocracy stems from a very real dichotomy of personal feelings. Allow me to help you understand my position better, as my feelings are very consistent, but obvious expressing them on an online forum makes it easy to be misunderstood. The reason why some of my posts reflect my dedication to supporting Scouting while others demonstrate more frustration than appreciation is that, frankly, I no longer consider "Scouting" and "The Boy Scouts of America" as synonymous terms. And for me that is indeed grievous to suggest, but that's the way it is. Sc

This.

BSA has Incident Reviews. I agree those one paragraph reviews could have more details. https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/incident-report/incident-reviews/

*cough* Scoutreach *cough* but boy isn't that the sad truth...We lose a lot of morally straight pros because of this. It's the never ending cycle

Never should've moved from Dallas in the first place. I get the idea of putting it by Philmont, I really do....but why move it from one the largest growing cities in america to Cimarron, New Mexico. If they really wanted to move it that badly, should've gone to the summit. Lord Knows they need more attention.

That's why I think it is so important to have an active Chartered Organization to act as a buffer between BSA and the scouters. BSA is a business. They are only in this for money. They will locate and exploit vulnerabilities in scouts/scouters in order to take them for every penny they can.

Family scouting certainly will. Barry

davidco, I think that is a very interesting perspective....good point. It does seem like it's easy for so many adults to get caught up in 'playing the game'. I'll admit that in some ways I did, but I think I was always aware of what I was doing and kept it tempered down....usually. I think that many adults probably aren't so self-aware about it though. While I wasn't actually doing work on the "requirements", I do enjoy this stuff and sort of feel like what we are often doing is similar to auditing a college course. I've seen some take it to an extreme...forming the "adult patrol", an

You forget one thing - Scouting is an imperfect organization. A great organization for many decades (far less so now), but still imperfect. There are better paths, as the Church has clearly realized. And I'm afraid the thought that the Church "couldn't make it work with the incredible resources available from BSA" is as far off from the truth as one could be. The Church was one of the most successful of all the BSA's Chartered Partners for almost the entirety of our century together. We DID make it work, and with incredible results at that! Regions with heavy concentrations of LDS Scouts such

"Thousand points of light..." and we are off!

Airline (Delta) has been responsive, they will have a credit for a year from purchase. Not sure on PSR fees (assume they will be refunded or credited), calls out to the ground transportation. Everything was fine until last Thursday....

I did read today that Chris Evans said he modeled the Captain America character on a childhood friend who is an Eagle Scout.

A full list with their backgrounds is available on the Scout Association website at http://scouts.org.uk/about-us/ambassadors/ but a fair summary would be Olympians or Paralympians, Adventurers, TV and Radio presenters oh and Britain's only astronaut

Mine where too! They weren't any good, but they were pretty well formed...

I am now a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow

Sure we do. It's called the Pledge of Allegiance. We say it at every scout meeting.

I agree. We say the Lord's Prayer every week at mass. Is that redundant? Maybe so. But religion isn't supposed to be a "one and done" type of activity. It's a 24/7 thing.

I don’t understand, duty to god is our values. How is that redundant? Barry

as a first born son I'm getting a little nervous. Should I mark my doorposts?

Sadly, TRUSTWORTHY on behalf of some pros has been long gone. I know. I worked with some professionals, who did some un-Scoutlike things. Some of them got promoted to regional and national staff. And let's face it, National has not been very TRUSTWORTHY of late. Maybe I am getting cynical with my old age, but I doubt it.

IMHO, this whole thing has been a dog and pony show from the start.

I relate to the "Scouting Addict" label. With three generations of Eagles, I used to joke that Scouting was part of our family DNA. My breaking point was realizing that all levels of Scouting will be moving to co-ed except the individual troop unit. Everything else (every district, council, national event - including summer camps) will be co-ed. BSA's promise of a parallel girl program is yet another lie. Seeing all the new BSA promotional materials focused on girls, it's clear that boys are being left out in the cold in this new "Family Scouting". Boys' needs now take a back seat to incl

When it is not fun anymore. It is still fun when I am out with my scouts.

DO NOT LET THE NEW SCOUTER ANYWHERE NEAR THE FIRST YEAR CAMPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and yes that is me shouting at you in warning, not anger ) He needs serious Cub Scout Leader deprogamming, and trained as a Boy Scouter, or should I say Scouts, BSA Scouter. I've seen first hand what new, well meaning, just crossed over parents/former Cub Leaders hover around first year campers, and it is a complete and total disaster. Do not make the mistake. #2 WELCOM

One thing about GSUSA that I personally don't like as a dad, but I have to admit it's a good thing. They, well at least in my daughter's troop, don't involve parents much in meetings and outings. To the point that I don't feel welcomed and parents are specifically excluded from most camps. My daughter was a daisey and now in the 2nd grade is a brownie. They don't camp much and when they do it seems to be more of cabin sleepovers, but what they do breeds independance a bit I guess. I used to think it was because I'm dad and not mom, reverse sexism and all.... but I'm not so sure.

Qwazse, ".........the field they are in needs to be reseeded!" I realize that everybody else is co-ed on all levels. Enjoy. Leave BSA alone. It will be destroyed if girls are allowed in the troops specifically. We've lost so much already. sst3rd