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"Once a boy becomes a Boy Scout replacing his original AOL award is difficult,at least in our council, because and advancement report is needed and only one badge is sold per boy. The knot is used when the AOL patch is not available. After the age of 18 the AOL patch can only be worn by Eagle Scouts who are entitled to wear thier youth rank patch and thus can wear their AOl patch under it. Could be wrong but this is what I've been told. " Your council is weird. If a youth wants multiple rank patches for all his extra uniforms, what does he do? You don't need advancement reports

"I have recently been asked to be our OA Chapter Advisor and I have looked atthe Scout office and online for information regarding the responsibilities and duties of this position. I found the recent online downloads but it is very vague as to the informatin I am looking for. Can anyone send me in the right direction?" Yes. Am suprised this hasn't been addressed. Go to the National OA website at www.oa-bsa.org and go to Resource then Publications and print out a copy ofthe Guide for Officers and Advisors. That will help. (I hope your lodge gave you a copy, but maybe not). Other p

"Now some read the uniform guide that you wear the color of your primary registration. I find this confusing. " It is confusing. That's why it was changed. It USED to read that. Now it reads that you wear the color that properly matches the position you are indicating on your uniform. BTW, the COR is NOT a member of a unit. They represent the charter org. Yes, they are on your charter, but that doesn't make them a member.

ScoutNut, Sorry, but Michelle is correct. The knot devices worn are NOT to indicate what PROGRAM a youth earned the religious award, but WHICH ONE. It IS correct for a Boy Scout who has earned the 'older' religious award to wear the VenturING knot device. He does NOT wear 2 Boy Scout devices.

"Hi..it's not. I had 2 teachers from my daughters school willing to jump in with both feet and help me get it off the ground but to be quite honest just the feel from this forum has talked me out of it. As I said before, if I can't get support on here (a forum that is supposed to support me) then how can I ever expect to make it. I feel as though I am doomed to fail because of nobody morally backing me. " I'm sorry, but I do not understand these comments. This forum is not a 'support' forum, but a discussion forum for those involved in Venturing. All of us here have tried

"To get really picky...I would argue that a Venturer who is attending his Eagle BOR may not currently be a Boy Scout in one sense--but in another sense he is a Scout--specifically, he's a Life Scout, or he couldn't be there. The little patch he gets if he passes the BOR says "Eagle Scout" right on it, not "Eagle Venturer." I suppose you could say he "holds Life Scout rank" but isn't a Life Scout. " When we say someone is a "scout", we are basically saying they are a "Boy Scout" or "Varsity Scout". A Venturer is not a scout. Holding the Life Scout rank or Eagle Scout rank doesn't quite a

No idea. I was a scout at the time, and had to get the new uniform before I went to the 81 Jamboree. At the time, I wore the old green-khaki uniform at the time. (kind of a mis-name, as 'khaki' really means a sand-tan color. Our uniform at the time was more of a light olive drab. We called it 'khaki', but it really had more green to be a proper khaki). Youth shirts of the time had the v-neck because we wore neckerchiefs, but this was falling out of favor. I jumped on wearing a collared shirt with bolo ties. This would devolve to the current practice of wearing neckerchiefs under th

"OK I stand corrected. But they are still members of the BSA." Wasn't argued on that point. Venturers are most definetly BSA members. Our shirts say "Venturing, BSA". But Venturers are NOT Scouts, and some will get a little teasty about that point. They are NOT "Venture Scout", "Venturing Scouts", "Venturer Scouts" or any other kind of Scout. ["Sea Scouts" are proper, but that's a special program within Venturing] A big mistake some make is thinking that Venturing is just (as another venturing leader put it) "Old Boy Scouts with Girls and spruce green shirts".

"I'm still befuddled as to why a fashion designer was even used in the 1st place! It would make sense to have more than one uniform option. Dress & field come to mind. The current design is not a bad dress uniform. A more practical uniform should be designed for field use. And should be designed by someone who knows something about field uniforms." Have to agree. The color of the uniform I don't see as a problem. What I see as a problem is the design/cut of the uniform and the choice of materials. Scout shorts/pants are badly designed. Thus why people like 'Kudu' put

"I will continue to ask him to wear his sash once a month for the Pack meetings. Now if I could just get it to stay on...the small is too small and the large is too large....I didn't see any mediums at our Scout shop and he refuses to let me alter it in any fashion so it fits better." As I mentioned, what some mothers have done is attach a little loop underneath the top of the sash that can attach to the epaulet button and prevent it from sliding off. You can't see this loop at the top, so no-one should get upset.

"A member of a Venturing unit is still a Scout!" No they are not. A member of a Venturing Crew is a Venturer. The term 'scout' does not apply to them and never has. This is why they are NOT called "Venturing Scouts" or some similiar term. "How Clintonian do you want to get? " Uh, what does Clinton have to do with this? Please leave your political views out of this.

"It has been posted that the merit badge is only worn to for formal events such as CoHs. Fair enough and easy to agree with. However, my question is - for den chiefs should/may they wear their MB Sash to formal Pack events such as Pack Meetings, B&G, Bridging Over? These aren't troop activities but they are formal events for the Pack. " It doesn't matter they aren't troop activities. If they are formal scouting events, that is fine. A district or council awards banquet, eagle banquest, etc, would also count. There is no 'restriction' on wearing the sash, just that outside of fo

When I joined scouts back in the 70s, my troop wore the red beret, so I got one. Like a lot of kids of my time, we had seen berets worn on tv & the movies. Sadly, as others have pointed out, the way the BSA's beret was manufactored made it difficult, if not impossible, to wear the BSA red beret in the same way. (wonder if that was on purpose). Thus it looked dorky. Plus, being in hot Florida, it wasn't very practical. A baseball hat or the current expedition hat was better. When I got backed involved as an adult in the mid 80s or so, I went to wearing baseball-style hats and that wa

"Well, remember that the boy may be a member of a Venturing Crew, not a troop, and whatever he's wearing may be their uniform--or they may not have a uniform. " That may be true, but then the candidate is a Venturer, not a Scout, and the question used the word "Scout", which indicated membership in a Boy Scout Troop.

Merit badge sashes, like medals, are only worn at formal events. This includes not just ECOH, but Troop Court of Honors (your troop DOES have them, right? They should have 2-4 a year), scout sunday, and other formal events. As noted, NO sash in the BSA is worn on the belt, either the merit badge sash or the OA sash. I've usually seen them worn on the belt when the scout wants to wear both, but obviously can't, so wears the other on the belt. See the Insignia Guide for proper wear. Some other points with merit badge sashes. Some kids complain that the sash 'slides off their shoul

"Tan Scout shirts w/o epaulettes were available from about 1973-1980. Epaulettes came in with de la Renta uniform in 1980 " Uh, no. I wore those uniforms as a scout. They are NOT Tan. They are 'green-khaki'. The color is not the same as the current tan uniforms (heck, they had to re-do the knots to match the new shade).

There are rules about people doubling up in positions with the unit (IH, COR, CC, MC, etc). I do not know what they are. I would hope the professionals know the rules. That said, I also agree with a previous poster. You said: "Charter Rep is not wanting anything to do with actual meetings(Unless necessary), outings, events, etc. She just wants to handle the go between only and I just needed to know if that was ok.(She is also going to hold Commitee Chair) " As noted, as a COR there ARE meetings she will need to attend. Ideally who ever is the COR should be coming to the Crew

"My main concern is not actually the crew itself but the adult leaders. I know myself and my husband will be all geared up and ready but the Charter Rep is not wanting anything to do with actual meetings(Unless necessary), outings, events, etc. She just wants to handle the go between only and I just needed to know if that was ok.(She is also going to hold Commitee Chair) Also another Commitee Member is basically a concerned citizen who wants to help in any way possible but not physically able to go on any outings whatsoever. " Ok. Remember that the adult Crew Committee is just

A word on training. A lot of the training you need in Venturing to begin with is FREE or very inexpensive. * Venturing Fast Start. Do it on-line. FREE * Venturing Adult YPT. Borrow the video from Council. FREE or view on-line. FREE * Venturing Crew Fast Start Video. Borrow from Council. FREE * Venturing Adult Leader Specific is a 5 hour course. Your council should NOT be charging a lot to put this on. One course I staffed it was free, another we charged about $10 to cover snacks and lunch.

"I am just starting a new Venturing Crew and need some advice, comments, help. " Ok, first off you need to get several literature items. You need to get the Venturing Fast Start training, either on-line, CD, or read thru the on-line PDF. Get copies of the Venturer Handbook and Venturing Leader Manual and read thru the VLM. Also, what is the PURPOSE of your Crew? There is no such thing as a generic "Venturing Crew". Every crew has a speciality. What is yours? Are you a high adventure crew? An art/hobby crew of some kind? Sports? Youth ministries? This is VERY important

"Another location to view new resources is the Venturing Program Highlights, however the only place I've ever seen them is under the Direct Service webpages." Venturing Program Highlights is actually a BIN publication that is put out once a year. It should be made available FREE from your council office (that is, if they bother to order it AND make it available to people). Bin # is 25-200x, where 'x' is a letter that gets increased each year. Current version is C, for 2004-2005. Not sure when D (2005-2006) comes out. Venturing Program Highlights is one of several bin literature i

"I didn't know there was a Venturing YPT. There was no mention of a different YPT for Venturing Leaders during the Leader Specific Training. I was told there was a specific YPT for the youth in a Crew but not a separate YPT for adults. Is this available on-line? Does anyone have a link for Venturing YPT? The DE that we met with suggested that the club members be directed to the on-line version from our councils Web site. That training is the same for Cubs, Scouts and Venturing. " Sigh. Yes, there is a separate YPT especially for Venturing leaders. If your DE is not aw

"The instructor said that new guidelines under the heading of considerate in the outdoors includes blending into your surroundings and not being an "eyesore" to others - that the red shirts/jackets worn by BSA are no longer proper. " I'm sorry, but the instructor is an idiot. The issue with not wearing 'bright' clothing and wearing clothing that 'blends' in is one thing. But the prohibition is against garish, neon-like colors. The red in the scout jackshirt is NOT garish and should not be a problem. Clothing using a similiar color of red has been used for centuries in the outdoors

"As NLE and YPT are the first courses a new leader needs to take this is where we will be starting. The club feels that they should get as many members as possible to take these and I know the people to contact to set these up. The shop will be open for club members to use, along with any members of the crew to use, most nights and weekends. The club feels that NLE and YPT are important and wants its to know what Scouting is about and the YPT rules that go along with the responsibility of being a CO." Ok. I didn't get your intended audience. I would actually disagree wit

" should there be a mandatory waiting period between basic training and wb, or something like that? I'm not trying to be flip (well ok, not too flip - grin), I'm just not sure what you are getting at with the view you expressed above. Is this any different from the people who grumble that WB should be reserved for longtime leaders because those "newbie" leaders don't know enough about BSA/haven't paid their dues yet and don't "deserve" wb so early on? " Personally, I do feel that some new leaders are rushing in too quickly to take Wood Badge. I don't think that WB should be 'reserv