BlueTrails_Vet

A few notes on that response: I'm aware of how smoothly it *could* go, except that the COR is determined to be diplomatic and the SM is recalcitrant. I'm all for diplomacy, but when the majority of the ASMs who show up every week leave at the end of the year go, it'll decimate this troop and nobody really wants that to happen either. And it's only a big deal to me because each Scout gets seven years. Mine has four left. It's not about me at all except that as a parent I'm responsible for doing the right thing by him. I'm not wasting time. I'm doing what I'm in a position to do. I've b

Yeah. Drank the beers. Tried to make incremental, even inconsequential changes. Tried to make the plans. Tried. Tried. Tried. And, not just me. But several ASMs, each working independently before we all realized that we'd been doing the same thing; working towards the same goals. It's an issue of control. The SM is an autocrat. He has been the SM, the CC, the committee itself. All of it. He doesn't want input. And despite the fact that he's aware of the many issues facing the troop, he doesn't want to change anything. Not really. And so that's the issue. How to move on from the situat

Hey John-in-KC! Man...I have to get out there for BBQ some time. Anyway. After listening for a year I tried to be an agent of change.In the process, I met with friends who are SMs or ASMs now to ask about best practices. I met on several occasions with our SM to discuss ideas. I drew up plans to present. Organizational things. Advancement things. Program things. After apparently initial positive response, including a promise to meet and discuss these things with the core ASM group, nothing happened. None of it. The annual "planning" meeting was a bust. None of it was discussed. The SPL w

Read a thread from a decade ago. It was called "How To Fire a Scoutmaster". The responses were...interesting. Many questioned the loyalty of the poster, who came to the forum seeking advice. A quick tour of the forum (I'm new here, but not to Scouting) shows me that the situation that particular ASM faced isn't, unfortunately, uncommon. I've learned that there are bad situations. Sometimes things don't work out. Sometimes hard decisions have to be made. Nothing always runs as planned, or as hoped, despite good intentions. I'm among a group of volunteers, ASMs, with a troop. I joined two