mlc

So about a month or so ago I posted in the help forum explaining how my son needed additional camping nights to finish the camping merit badge. We met with council and they were fantastic giving back nights camped that the sm/mbc (one in the same) took away. We have clarity and clarification, and my son will be wrapping up the badge soon. Everything else including his eagle project, write up, letters of recommendation etc are finished. This is the last piece to be completed. 

When we met with our local council, they gave him a flyer showing an "overnight scouting event" at our local minor league baseball field that is hosting scout night/over night in tents. My son and avid baseball fan is thrilled and will be attending for the games and the two nights of camping. We spoke with our sm last week and he didn't say anything against it then, but said it needed to be opened up to the rest of the troop. We said that was fine and we would be more than happy to organize and plan the event for our troop. I received an email from him today stating that no one is interested in going, and in order for it to be a "scouting activity" a trained leader needs to be there. Not sure if this sm is delusional or just playing hard ball. He told us in August that we were "on automatic pilot" to the finish line and that is what we are trying to do. He is missing a few nights camped and we are completing that. We have established that it does not need to be with his troop, and advancement heads in council said these nights in a tent, under the stars on a baseball field will count. To be safe, my guess is that we need to partner with another troop that has a few boys going and we should be safe. I am not sure why he is trying to discredit the opportunity since it is posted on our council website as "scout night". Can someone please weigh in on this? I'm convinced the man is insane at this point or better yet a control freak. If council posts on their site and opens it up to every district in our council then isn't this a "designated scouting event"? Tickets can be purchased directly through the box office, but the main point of contact is our councils district executive. 

Can someone clarify that this in fact will count. Our sm is really mistaken, and should be replaced. So many people have left and sadly we didn't years ago. If you are really encouraging progression in a program why wouldn't you partner with the scout and say the many people from the troop aren't interested in going (funny my feedback from parents was different) but let me work with another troop who will sign off on your nights. Sounds like sabotage as per usual.  Any info is always appreciated.

Thank you so much for all the responses. Some are a bit judgemental and I will say this. He started scouting in the first grade. He loved it, had a blast and wanted to continue going. His interests in High School changed, as expected, but wanted to keep going. He has attended camp every summer, went on numerous indoor camping trips, and has earned numerous merit badges. He is now 17, he has a job, he has a peer leadership role, he has been a baseball player since T-Ball, and has been a very good student. Why Eagle? Well because he wants to finish what he started. To discount a scout simply because they haven't met the nights camped requirement is silly. He attended 13 consecutive nights of camping two years ago when he went to summer camp then NYLT training. He won an award there for his leadership qualities. I mention he is well rounded because our SM and his kids are not. Its scouting and that it. So who is ignorant? Its not for college, its not for scholarships, its simply to complete something you started years ago.

Thank you to all the individuals who shed light on the situation. I did call council in Texas and the confirmed it does not need to be completed with his troop. Scouts run into this problem all the time where they have not accumulated enough nights and are left at the end scrambling to get them. Our SM can be a bit vindictive, and has never been a fan of the juggling many activities particularly sports. If you rappel a wall at any camping trip, why not mark it on the blue card? Nope, he didn't and said it needed to be done. If you have seen the same scout at every camp for 6 years surely they have hiked 1000 feet. Why take nights away from a scout that has been a role model for other kids in the troop? Funny as den chief, the kids requested he come back for a second year. If my son doesn't exemplify the scout code, then I don't know who does. Another local troop said he is more than welcome to come there. Why? Because he started with all of these kids who had enough sense to realize our SM has control issues and they left. To criticize him because he hasn't completed his nights is the epitome of ignorant. There is more to life than just scouting. Oh and by the way...being well rounded gets kids into college. I know first hand, we are going through the process now.

Thanks for all the feedback! Appreciate it and we have a concrete plan going forward. 

Will he still be able to complete it with his current troop? It is not that they are not offering him the nights, he was hoping to get a few more weekend in during the summer when it is less stressful since school is over. We just want to make sure he can get another weekend or two in with another troop, have that scoutmaster sign off on those particular nights camped and then complete weekend with his current troop and hopefully make Eagle with this same troop he started with in first grade.  We are just afraid our SM will put yet another roadblock in to derail his progress.

Yes, it was the scoutmaster. 

My son is 17 and will be 18 the end of the year. As a current life scout, he has one remaining badge to finish, Camping, which he started in 2013. His Eagle project was planned, approved, fund-raised, constructed, and delivered to the beneficiary. He is in the process of the write up and final approval.

Our problem is this: our scoutmaster has strictly advocated for "scouting only" all these years. My son is fortunate to be well rounded in many areas of his life and traveled a lot during the summers for baseball. He attended every summer camp and many indoor campouts but not many outings in tents. When we reviewed his advancement records he needs a significant amount of nights to finish the camping badge to meet the 20 night requirement.

Years ago, our SM had a falling out with many members of our troop and they left to go to another local troop. We stayed but this SM remains and is very challenging and not very well liked. My son's friends in the other troop, who my son has stayed in touch, have invited him along on campouts to help get the nights needed quicker, including through the summer which is easier on his schedule. Is this allowed?

One of our dads is an Eagle and he said troops are always willing to help another troop and it should not be disallowed. Knowing our SM, he will flat out say no, but if I have a concrete rule that says yes my son can get camping with another troop credited then we will go with that . At this stage of the game, we just want to wrap up a very long scouting career. My son started in first grade and is now a junior in high school with so many other things going on that he wants to finally complete this journey.

Any help anyone can offer would be appreciated. We have a meeting on Thursday with our council to put in writing exactly the trips he will be going on and as long as I have support that he can camp with other troops we are good to go. If someone knows where the exact rule can be found that he can camp with other troops that would be great. 

Thanks in advance.