Armymutt

This worked for me. Married a girl who became a pharmacist.

I have major issues with BSA actively entering the political arena. By mentioning B. Taylor, they have gone way beyond selling war bonds and into anti-police propaganda. That is something that they can't take back. I don't think that scouts should actively engage in any social issues. That's not our role. We should be role models for society through our actions, not our words. I don't like forced anything - it reeks of insincerity. If your troop/pack is open to anyone who wants to join up and participate in this organization, then that's all that should be required. We are probably one

If they want to have numbers like they did in the 60s and 70s, they need to act like they did in those decades. Scouts join Scouting because it's fun. To most boys, an element of danger is fun. When you take that away, it's no longer fun. Limiting the height of pioneer structures to 6ft is crazy. There's no sense of danger there. Taking away the games we used to play in the 80s, like Stargazers, no activities that remotely resemble shooting at people, and the general babying of the program isn't going to bring kids in. T-ball has more danger in it. We used to jump off 20ft high cliffs.

We're trying to do that with our Tiger den this week. Taking a one mile "hike" with their 6 essentials. Not sure what we are going to see since it will be dark, but we'll give it a shot.

I'm not clear on why this is a merit badge. Surely the basic tenets of Scouting already incorporate these ideas. I suppose if one wants to explore them, fine, but I don't think it needs to be required for Eagle. American Cultures isn't required, but it is essentially a diversity merit badge.

Welcome to scouting in the military. Like it or not, BSA extends some unofficial leeway to the Scouting programs chartered to military organizations. One could say that it was open to any Pack, as long as they could attend. It looks like it was held on Ft. Leavenworth. Not sure of their present requirements, but Fort Bragg was not allowing anyone on-post who didn't have a mission essential need to be there. If the post only has one Pack, then that's the only one that will be attending.

I've read a few threads about "SM retirement date". My experience has been with four troops. The first SM was removed for being a pedophile. My second troop had the same SM from 1946 until his death in 2011. My third troop dissolved because of the military drawdown in England. My fourth troop went through several SMs in the 3 years I was in it, due to military moves. My natural line of thought is that an SM stays in their position for a long time in the civilian world. Is that not usually the case? Does it tend to be like Cub Scouts where the SM moves on when the kid/kids move on? May

My son's first ever camping trip is on Halloween. We are in NC, for weather reference. We'll be staying in my 33 year old LL Bean tent. I haven't been camping outside of the Army since 1994. Still have my Thermarest 3/4 length self-inflating pad from my Philmont trip. I was thinking of putting him in a square sleeping bag on top of the Thermarest. Since I'm old and beat up from being an Infantryman and a Paratrooper, I'm trying to decide between a twin-size air mattress or picking up a Big Agnes sleeping bag and pad combo. Kind of depends on availability right now. I'm planning on taki

The experience with the SM brings up the question of who can dismiss the SM from their position? If the SM isn't fulfilling their role as a guide in a youth-led program, then they need to go.

In the requirements for Tiger, one of them is Cyber Chip. It says it can be waived if you don't have access to the internet. It's the "you" that is the sticky part. My kids don't have access to the internet beyond stuff on the TV. None of the things mentioned are something they can relate to. To me, it's something I should waiver until they are old enough to use the internet. Their only access to cmputers are at home and school. Both places are severely restricted and supervised.

In the troops I was in in the 80s-90s, we just split the weekly meeting. We opened and closed as a troop. Maybe had a few announcements. Did training by rank, and games as a troop. Patrol meetings mostly concerned themselves with planning campouts to nest with the troop campouts.

What are the youth getting for all these fees? They have to pay for their books, uniforms, patches, camping gear, camp fees, etc. The unit adults are volunteers. I assume the summer camps fees pay for the staff, food, and facility upkeep. Is the program too bloated with paid employees? I can see having to pay insurance, but how much of the rest of the program is subsidized from higher up? I'd really hate for a kid to miss out simply because their parents can't afford the program.

That's terrible. I don't think I could find it in myself to forgive him.

Yeah, I know. The packet they handed the parents had the old CM's named marked out and the current CM is listed as the ACM. Such is life in a pack that is heavily tied to the military community.

My son enjoyed his first meeting in his new pack tonight. I told the CC that if they needed me for any positions, I'm open to it. He said they need a new ACM. Wasn't expecting that, but ok! I guess it's time to get more training done.