Eagle94-A1

So we had a meeting of SM and several ASMs last night. One of the topics of discussion was changing the patrols. Thankfully nothing will be done until it's time for unit elections, which will be May. Lots of discussion on this. One idea was doing away with the older scout patrol, assigning them to the the other patrols and making it so that they would get elected PLs, but then when camporees came about, they reform for competition. Thankfully that was dismissed. My comments was that it was to adult oriented, bet their would not be any buy in, we are essentially appointing leaders, and we would be forming "Ringer" patrols for competition. SM agreed with that. One of the leaders tried to point out that an older Scout patrol is a ringer patrol, but had to tel;l him the difference is that the OSP is always together, whereas a ringer patrol only gets together for competition in order to win. My idea of keeping the older scout patrol and integrating the two other patrols into two mixed aged patrols so that they would have a mix of Scouts, was discussed. Challenge was that some of the younger scouts won't listen to the middle aged ones. Adults had some concerns and we went to option 3. All three patrols will be disbanded. Everyone mixed up and arranged so that we are true mixed aged patrols. Anyone can run for PL, so the older Scouts are taking their chances. While the adults are leaning towards that one, it was brought up that the older Scouts need to have some input and some ownership on this change. Plus they may come up with ideas we did not think about. The older Scouts know that things need to change. They even commented on that this weekend at the lock in. Game plan is to let things as they are until April, then have a meeting with them. discuss this with them, and get their thoughts, concerns, and ideas on the matter. Especially since we are estimating anywhere from 14 to 29 new scouts crossing over in December 2016. We need to get a handle on this growth, and handle it NOW!.

That former DE wasn't in East Carolina Council by any chance? When I was a DE, I was "fortunate" in that if i didn't get stuck behind a tractor, It would tale me only an hours one way to get to my all day meeting. I had friends who would take over hours, if they got stuck behind a tractor .

My troop growing up had a saying, I want to attribute to a dad who was colonel in the army but can't remember: " Military surplus. If it's designed to survive combat, it may survive Boy Scouts."

Yes, I remember one of the service crew members I worked with being so proud because he was selected to be part of armed response and was authorized to carry on duty. To me, the British firearm laws did not make sense and seemed crazy since someone could not defend oneself and family. Then I realized you did not have a revolution that permanently overthrew your king. And unfortunately I do not know enough British history to know how the Lord Protector handled firearms to retain his dictatorship. As for being on call, on our side of the pond, some law enforcement will have extra duties that they perform as needed. One example is our Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) members. In my city, they have normal areas to patrol, but can be called out to do a SWAT job. Also sometimes there is not enough personnel, or special situations occur, and folks who are suppose to be off, need to report in. One of the ASMs department is short staffed, and they take turns doing night and weekend duty. Also if something major happens, he may get called in. While at summer camp one year, his department tried to get him to come back from vacation to work. Thankfully the police chief is supportive of Scouting, and he was allowed to stay at camp since if he left, we the troop would need to leave due to lack of adults.

Did you have the "Centennial Edition" by any chance? I was hoping someone who has that version, and the one who has the current version could compare sections. I know I complained that a lot of "basic" information from my day ( I too used the 9th edition) was left out of the Centennial edition. I had to creatye handouts for IOLS.

@@Cambridgeskip, correct me if I'm wrong, but I beleive the Scout Association in the UK turned their supply stores more into outfitters. I remember the one I went too didn't look like a BSA scout shop on the first floor at all. More like REI or Gander Mountain. It was when you got to the wall at the end of the first floor, where the stairs were at, and saw all the Scout patches from all over the world, that you realized it was a Scout Shop. Always wished BSA would go more that route.

"Ever wonder if the REI associate REALLY has used every backpack? Or are they just pushing what the back office tells them to? There's your answer." I would hope they would be honest. I know from my supply division days, if I didn't use it, I would not recommend it. If a friend of mine used a product, I would state what they thought to my customers. If I didn't like a product I would discourage someone from buying it. Badge Bond comes immediately to mind. Did I get in trouble a time or two. Yes. But as Scout is TRUSTWORTHY. Besides, the boss left me alone when, after spending 30-45 minutes on how to select gear for a new Scout's parent, and even advising to shop around, the parent left, and 20 minutes later showed up with son in tow. We outfitted him with gear he would use and grow into. Nice sale for the store, and we got a new Scout outfitted for adventure.

ROTFL And I don't know how to do the pound sterling symbol. And i though using # people would think weight. I love me some ALPS. But I've been on a USGI surplus kick of late as that is way cheaper, even with the hiker direct program.

You are a law enforcement officer and you are on call.

ALPS Mountaineer has a discount program via hikerdirect.com . Don't know how much the shipping would be, but the MYSTIQUE 2 is $113.06 which is approx. 86 pounds.

WWWWEEEEELLLLL, there was a place in Los Angeles that had authentic Cajun food. Then again they did have my brother as the chef.

Read the article. I've met some of the folks on the JPSO SWAT team. Glad Griffin is a SGT. now as he was really cool. Knew his stuff and one heck of a sniper.

Back in the day, my troop used semaphore flags as patrol flags. Two of the three flags when I joined were the original 2 patrols in the troop, with the Leadership Corps flag coming in a few years after the troop was formed. When we added a 3rd patrol, we initially were given a name, and that patrol's flag came out of retirement. After about 2 months, we decided to change our name. That meant that the current patrol flag would be retired, all the ribbons would go with that flag, etc. We had to make a new flag. Only "requirement" we had was that we needed to have a troop patch somewhere on the flag. Instead of red and white material, we decided to use red and blue. Not only to be different, but also that was what I could find for free.

How about jacshirt (red or green), switchbacks, boots, and expedition hat or smokey bear?

In regards to the professional uniform and commissioners: (in best whiney Darth Vader voice in SWRotS voice) NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously though, I've found that with some folks, wearing the field uniform helps new leaders get comfortable with some of the advice and help we give. And for some new leaders, they may not know what all the knots mean, but they do understand I've been there, done that, and have probably encountered the issues they are dealing with. And yes, there are some who, no matter how you try and help them, they will ignore you, tell you and the Scouting program needs to change with the times, etc.

Try having the retired CSE as a UC in your district. Yep Brock is now a UC somewhere in my council.

That's a new one for me, but I can believe Sheriff Harry Lee of Jefferson Parish would do that, and I can see where some would complain. He was the one pushing for unlimited hunting of them on the banks of the various canals for a small yearly fee, I think it was $5 to cover the license. PETA went ape over the matter when I lived there. Trust me the nutria were a major problem. You could see large groups of them in the canals about 1/4 of a mile from my house. And I lived in a well developed suburb of New Orleans.

OUTSTANDING! I left New Orleans in 1997 before the program came about.

One of our former leaders was on call 24/7. He was head of the SWAT team. He always had his gear on him or in his vehicle. Current ASM who conceal carries does so when on duty/call.

Funny you mentioned this. When I last did IOLS, I reviewed both the syllabus AND then current BSA handbook. A LOT OF BASIC INFORMATION WAS MISSING FROM BOTH! (emphasis) The instructors and I got together and reviewed what was missing, and sources to get them. A lot of that missing info we included came from previous BSHBs and field books. A few things I found online which I liked better. To include this info, we created a pamphlet to be handed out. For axe usage, we used an circa 1950s USFS pamphlet to give additional info.

ROTFL! Obviously those complaining Specific Training is too long have never gone through the old SMF. 1 Full Day mixed classroom and outdoors, 1 night time classroom that incorporated a model meeting, and one full weekend ( Friday thru Sunday) camp out. It was spread out over a month, and you were "encouraged" to have a patrol meeting in there too.

A few comments. 1) Specific training, aka classroom training, doesn't have a test out. I taught both the pre-2015 and the current, 2015 version and the latest has left out a SIGNIFICANT portion of the pre-2015 version, and it still doesn't compare to older versions. Because Specific is suppose to be placed into SCOUTNET, I do not know if it will allow a "youth" to have that training. KEEP THE TRAINING CARD just in case ( all caps are emphasis) 2) IOLS does allow a test out option. When we did it in my district, it is a one day, pass or fail, event. At the moment we have a 100% pass rate, but only 2 adults have done that option. 1 was prior military, 1 was a youth staffer on the IOLS course I taught (his dad, who replaced me as training chair, didn't want to give him credit for IOLS as he thought it may appear to be showing favoritism to his son. Hence he made his son do the test out with other leaders present.) 3) I've used folks as staff who I knew had the knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience to teach IOLS, EVEN IF THEY DID NOT TAKE THE IOLS COURSE. I think the Scouter who has been to Philmont 3 times, or the WB 3 beader who also worked on summer camp staff as a youth and is an MBC for several outdoor MBs can teach these basic courses without having to go through them. Let them teach, and get credit at the same time. 4) Does anyone remember when national made the big push on training records on SCOUTNET, but the powers that be only thought about using codes for the then current training? Or how at one point national was trying to make everyone redo training every time the name of the course changes? One of the things my DE at the time told me to do because of the above, and I still do it to this day, is for every class I teach, also list me as a student, and issue a card to myself. That way I am always "current" in my training, and I don't have to deal with any headaches getting records up to date.

My thoughts, and I've been a UC. 1) There is training, and if memory serves, it's a day long one. Sorry it's been 18 years since I did it, and having been a DE prior to being UC, it was a rehash. 2) UCs should have knowledge, skills and experience working with multiple units prior to being a UC. Being on training staff, attending RTs etc so that folks know who he is and can know the advice given is sound. More later

Krampus, Law enforcement are allowed to carry at BSA functions. The ASM in my troop works in law enforcement, and is regularly called out from meetings and camp outs as part of his duties.

There are a variety of reasons why someone who is young (under 30) may e go into the commissioner corps. 1) They don't want to be committed to a single unit as a leader. That was my case once I quit being a DE. I didn't want to "show favorites" and work with one specific unit. It was interesting going from DE to UC, but very doable. 2) Have a Scouter who wants to help out, but can not commit to being a unit leader for whatever reason. A freind of mine and I just recruited someone under 30. Between his USAFR and med school commitments, he doesn't have the time for weekely meetings. But checking on the units, helping with paperwork, He can do. 3) No kids in the program, and wants to help out as he can. Have a UC with 2 daughters in that situation.