Armymutt

Well, we are in between Advancement Coordinators. Weird stuff going on. The old one announced his retirement. Another parents was being courted. She needed some time to make a decision. When she said she would do it, the CC then decided that it needed to be voted on, but that vote couldn't occur at the committee meeting in progress.

We have 2 Scouts who need boards of review. One is going for Star and the other Second Class. Both finished their SM conference at least by last Tuesday. Our Troop normally does BOR on the second Tuesday. This year, that's Veterans Day, and we aren't meeting, for some reason. The first Tuesday, the CC has a committee meeting for our girl troop because she's also the CC there. The third Tuesday we have a drug program for the Second Class requirement. The CC said she doesn't want to pull any Scouts or adults from that, despite the Scouts in question not needing it. We also aren't meeting the week of Thanksgiving, another questionable decision. So it looks like these Scouts will have their BOR delayed for an entire month. The Second Class candidate will likely be ready for his First Class BOR. Can they be done the same night?

The requirement says, "On a Scouting or family outing, take note of the trash and garbage you produce. Before your next similar outing, decide how you can reduce, recycle, or repurpose what you take on that outing, and then put those plans into action. Compare your results." What happens when your troop is very LNT? I'm trying to coach a few Scouts, but coming up short here. They could repackage some food items, but that introduces food safety issues. Everyone eats out of mess kits. The only trash being produced is usually meat packaging, maybe some bags protecting veggies, or a can or two. Thoughts on how to proceed here?

They do the same dumb skit they have done for the last 4 years that I have known these kids. One introduces himself as POTUS and his body guard is Chuck Norris. He gets kidnapped and the kidnapper is revealed to be his body guard. The body guard's boss is revealed to be someone else. That's literally the whole skit. It's about as funny as it reads. I've tried to introduce them to the old ones, which apparently will seem new to the kids today. For example, the filming scene where they go through many iterations until reaching perfection, only to find they ran out of film. The new socks where the last one needs i pair a month.

We attended the Railroading MB weekend at the NC Transportation Museum this past weekend. On Saturday night, there was an all camp fire. I noticed that almost all of the skits were terrible. Not funny at all. The kids were laughing, but, as one ASM noted, "so was the audience watching 'Ass' in Idiocracy". Did we lose the idea that skits had a punchline? I thought it was just our guys, but almost every troop who performed had something that was about as funny as kids saying "six, seven". At this point, I'd be happy to see a kid run on stage declaring a small leafy branch to be the infant tree. It's not just skits, but most of the other stuff is in the Handbook, if they ever actually open it.

The problem we have is a transient environment. I'd say about 50 % of our troop is military. We are also a very active troop, so we attract a lot of kids from other troops. That's great, except they come with varied backgrounds. For example, we just received what one might consider a really great gift in Scouting - two 17 y/o Eagles who are "Scouting nerds". They are smart, have a strong interest in the program, and have the experience and capabilities we need. While they don't want to be patrol leaders, they are the perfect pair to demonstrate what right looks like to our Scouts. The other side of the coin is the kid who's been in Scouting for over a year, is a Second Class and doesn't know the Scout Law or Oath. Having the older Scouts teach briefs well, but when they don't have the skills, knowledge, or motivation, it's a recipe for disaster. We just had our first campout as new patrols. The storming phase of team development was very evident. It didn't help that one PL was more likely to be found playing football with the rest of the older Scouts than he was leading his patrol. The other PL arrived with a fever and spent the weekend in his tent - way to go parents. The third one "didn't feel like coming" because he wanted to play video games all weekend. His patrol also contains the SPL and ASPL and they still were all over the place. Maybe in 6 months, we'll have some well tuned patrols. It will help when the rest of the older boys age out in January.

We don't get more repetitive training than the oath and law. This is a kid who has been in the troop three months. He came to us from another troop. During his BOR, it came out that he wasn't aware he earned Fingerprinting MB at summer camp and doesn't recall the classes. I can recall the exact setting, location, and principles in attendance at my Fingerprinting MB in 1991. How this kid can't recall his from Aug 2025 is beyond me.

One of the questions that comes to mind is, does a Scout have to know the Law and Oath after achieving the rank of Scout? It's no longer a requirement for advancement. We all take it for granted that a Scout would know the two things we say at the beginning of every meeting, but is it a requirement? I suspect they are not doing BORS correctly. My wife is a committee member, soon to be the Advancement Chair. She said they don't have a discussion with the Scout not present. Another problem is, they try to cram all the BORs into one hour. Last night we had 4 for Tenderfoot and 1 for Second Class.

They are handled at the district level. I don't think anyone from the troop sits on them.

I volunteered to be the SM. I'm getting weird vibes. The SM stated that he is not going to be the SM after the first of the year. Of all the ASMs, I'm kind of the front runner - proactive, understand the program, grew up in it, advocating for the patrol method circa nineth edition of the handbook. When I mentioned it to the SM, he said, "well, maybe I'll stay on a little longer." Having the CC and the SM from the same family is generally considered bad, unless you have no other options. I'm trying to get us to have 3/4 of the month be patrol meetings so that the patrols can develop the skills and the leadership. I feel like I'm fighting an uphill battle.

I mentioned previously the 15 y/o Scout whose mom wants him to make Eagle by summer. Nice enough kid, but incompetent as hell. Tonight was his Second Class BOR. He still doesn't know the Scout Law and Scout Oath. The SM acts like this kid is the second coming of Green Bar Bill. The CC, his wife, doesn't seem to have an issue with it. The SM has previously complained, at length, about incompetent Scouts. I can't figure this one out. They are essentially paving a path for him. The SM and his SPL son set up the new patrols so that it was all but assured that the Scout would be the PL. Where in the rank progression path is a speed bump for slowing things down until competence is gained? Is this Scout going to be awarded Eagle without knowing the basics of Scouting? We have an 11 y/o who could stomp this kid into the ground when it comes to Scouting knowledge.

It's definitely something that confuses me. Why would you sign up with an organization that has ideas you disagree with and then change them? Why not create your own organization?

Our SM asked me for my opinion on appointing an Outdoor Ethics Guide. Looking into the job description, it seems kind of a low threshold of responsibility position. It's not clear what the job does. I don't foresee any changes to our program based on LNT inputs. We already do that pretty well. Has anyone utilized this position?

I showed him the Black Pearl Patrol Patch. The guys all liked it.

That's kind of what we did. We covered 12 Second Class requirements on that hike. First aid discussions while walking. Demonstrations during rest stops. I'm offering orienteering next month. A large portion of the troop is off on Monday the 10th while their parents have to work. Trying to get a contingent together to hit our council camp to give the young ones something to do. Signing off a First Class requirement helps.