acco40

"Although, technically, it isn't imitating a military uniform, it is imitating a naval uniform." You are sure to receive some flack with the above. Are you trying to voice an opinion that the Navy is not a branch of the U.S. military? You might have stirred up a hornets nest with that one! There are also laws about wearing military uniforms by civilians. Fairly obtuse with respect to BSA uniform policy but somewhat germain. Check out Mike Walton's story about the adult who was not allowed to a Scouting event (regional jamboree??) due to his behavior #1, but it all started o

What the heck does a pack buy for $2000? - Have you priced a Pinewood Derby track recently? Should the Pack buy a track, rent a track, make a track, ..? Excellent topic to discuss by the full committee after a report by the committee person who has been assigned the task of organizing the Pinewood Derby. Having an open vote sometimes helps. Tiger parents may see the benefit of applying Pack resources up front now to save money in the future. 2nd Year Webelos parents, whose boys will leave the Pack in February before the Derby, may be hesitant to put out a big outlay now for possible monet

The original post had nothing to do about former President William J. Clinton. The original post referenced an article that related that President Bush teared up/cried when telling the parents of a serviceman who was killed in combat that their son died for a noble cause. President Johnson was torn-up about the boys who were killed in Nam. He was so conflicted aboutthe war he could not run for a second term, an election that he in all probability could have won easily. What President has sent boys into harms way and thought it was not a noble cause? What President has been happy tha

And don't forget to "Remember the Titans." One of the things the the new Woodbadge for the 21st Century" was trying to teach is how to adapt to inevitable change. Some just don't seem to be able to do it. I liked that fact that during my Specific Leader Training portion (Outdoor Essentials) we were put in patrols, and "graduated" from Scout to 1st Class from Friday night to Sunday evening. Not only did it teach us the core (basic outdoor essentials, duh!) but MORE important in my eyes, it showed us how the boys view the program from their perspective. A very valuable lesson. You didn

President Bush valiantly defended our country from slaughter from the skies by the evil Mexican Air Force. He served proudly amidst the sons of fellow politicians and influential businessmen. How dare anyone question his patriotism!

As a former politician once said, "I feel your pain." For whatever reasons (I don't want to get into it now, they are being addressed) our troop has lost most of our senior boys. This past week our SPL, ASPL and youth Quartermaster (ages, 15,15,and 13 have left the troop. Our most senior boys are now boys who are 12 and will have two years of experience come February. The SM wants to "promote" the two most senior boys to SPL and ASPL (promote, not elect mind you). The more I think about this the more I don't like it. They are our best patrol leaders and while good kids, they are not read

Ed, just to clarify your statement that the Troop nominates adult OA candidates. It is my understanding that the Troop Committee (not SM or SAs) may nominate adult candidates if and only if the youth elect a youth candidate.

For tens of thousands of years certain segments of our society WERE EXCLUDED from certain things and they WERE NOT HAPPY. Yes, some prefer the company of their own gender for certain events. My view is that parents should be welcome at all scouting events but that the parents need to adapt to the scouting environment, not the other way around. If you need to "tie a mother to a tree" maybe she needs to be kept from attending further camping outings but to ban all females is going to far in my estimation. What my troop does to any parent that attends a majority of the camping tri

"This assumes, as I've stated previously, the CO is willing and has the resources (enough adult males). It's their troop, and as long as it's a matter of building bonds between males and not bashing women, I see it as being legitimate." I want to make sure I understand your phrase "It's their troop." I'm guessing you meant that it is the boys troop. Many people are mistaken when they say the troop is the boys. It is not. The Charter Organization "owns" the troop. It is not the boys troop. That fact is unquestionable. If you meant the their to describe the CO/COR, you are 100% corre

Reading the now six pages of comments I had to alternatively laugh and cry. First a couple of points, 1) There is no BSA policy that says men have to be allowed on camp outs. 2) (For Yaworski) - Leave no trace policy does not want you to pee on a tree either. The salts from your urine are very attractive to animals who will lick/chew the bark and damage the tree. Pee on a rock instead. I've seen just as many men as women "baby" their sons on a camp out. My personal policy (I'm a male Scouter) is that I do not attend my son's first few camp outs (including their first summer

The feedback that I've been getting about my district's BALOO training has been very negative. They did state during the course, correctly or incorrectly, that BALOO training was not required to take the Pack camping (overnight). Outdoor Webelos Leader (OWL, NOT WLO - Webelos Leader Outdoor) training was well received. It did not mimic but was very similar to the SM Leader Specific training course. The OWL training was a very condensed version of the SM LS training in my view.(This message has been edited by acco40)

This is a bad question for either Bob White or I to answer because even thought they are properly called "parent pins" the mothers usually abscond with the pins and the fathers don't have to worry (or don't get to worry) about if they can wear them on their uniform proper. {Smile everyone I am joking!!}(This message has been edited by acco40)

Please note that PRAY, the organizaton referenced by sctmom does not cover the majority of religious emblems that are available. They only cover Protestant and independent Christian faiths. Catholicism, Judaism, Muslim, Hindu, and many, many more are not covered by PRAY. Your best bet is to go to the religious organization itself. That is the organization that sets the requirements for the award, not the BSA. (This message has been edited by acco40)

Yaworski, you will find the word "should" many times in BSA publications. The word "must" is rarely used. As Bob White, myself and others have pointed out, with respect to uniforms in the BSA there are two, field and activity. What do you mean when you refer to "dress" uniform?

Yaworski, you proved my point! No, there is no such thing as an informal flag ceremony. And the SM Handbook states that "Boy Scouts and Scout leaders proudly wear the full uniform for all ceremonial and indoor activites including troop meetings, boards of review, and courts of Honor. The uniform should also be worn during speacial outdoor occasions, such as flag ceremonies, Scout shows, and special times during summer camp." Therefore, they should not be in an activity uniform during such ceremonies. Therefore, I conclude, and I agree that not everyone shares this opinion, to place my

Bob White, I disagree. Straight from the SM Handbook: "Boy Scouts and Scout leaders proudly wear the full uniform for all ceremonial and indoor activites including troop meetings, boards of review, and courts of Honor. The uniform should also be worn during speacial outdoor occasions, such as flag ceremonies, Scout shows, and special times during summer camp. During physically active outdoor events and informal activites, Scout may wear an activity uniform - troop or camp T-shirts with Scout pants or shorts." MY interpretation of this is that during formal flag ceremonies

Bob White I think your are confused. In the SM Handbook, it specifically states that "the purpose of the board of review in not to retest a Scout". It does not state in black and white that the SM conference is not a place to retest. However, I agree, the SM conference is not the place to retest either. My comment said "It is the Scoutmaster's Conference where the check-up is done to make sure the requirements are met. It is not the intent of the BOR to determine this!" Because the SM conference is the first place a scout goes after he believes he has completed all of the requiremen

I know that this will get some flack but here goes: The sooner my children learn that my life DOES NOT revolve around them, the better. To say that I will not commit to an event if my son is not in it is ludicrous. Rooster, you obviously do not have more than one child. As a volunteer leader, I volunteered to LEAD, not cater to my childs whims. As an SA, joining when my oldest crossed over into Boy Scouts, I purposely did NOT go to his first camp-out and to summer camp that first year. Did he like that, no. But he needed to go without mom or dad. That is part of the scouting

As my favorite announcer would say, Whoa Nellie! It is the Scoutmaster's Conference where the check-up is done to make sure the requirements are met. It is not the intent of the BOR to determine this! My son will make life (I believe) this December and he won't be turning 13 until August. I have not signed one single requirement nor pushed him with respect to rank advancement. If a scout attends the camp-outs, reads his book, participates in fund raisers, service projects, etc. it is quite easy to advance in rank. The main thing that holds my son back is the "time in rank" requirem

Although widely used by Scouters and Scouts, the BSA does not recognize the terms Class A and Class B. I'm not sure where those terms originated. When in Field Uniform, the scout should salute appropriately (right had to brim of hat). When in activity uniform (or street clothes), the scout should place right hand over heart. This can be found in many different BSA publications. I believe the Scoutmaster Handbook is one. An interesting tidbit: Rule 80.2 The Scout Salute The Scout Salute is made only by Members of the Movement (except Beaver Scouts) in uniform on formal

Tiger badge, Tiger Patch? Boys who are Webelos Cub Scouts this year should not have a Tiger Badge. They may have earned a Tiger STRIP (small rectanglar patch, similar in shape to ther RECRUITER strip). Not sure what you are referring to when the term Tiger patch is used.

In my son's troop, we have been having a myriad of leadership gyrations. The current Scoutmaster publicly told the troop he was stepping down "in the near future" in the February time frame. The troop had a trying summer camp (June) and an "eventful" summer. Finally he notified one SA (not all), the COR, DE and selected other Council staff of his intention to step down in August. At the late August SM meeting, which the SM was not present, one of the ASMs pushed to have himself designated as the "successor" SM. My comment was that until I was notified publicly that the SM was stepping dow

I'm not sure what you are referencing. Are you commenting on the new Cub Scout rank handbooks (i.e. Wolf, Bear and Webelos handbooks) that may be out in August? To my knowledge, national sent up a trial balloon at Philmont to see the reaction to the new books. Nothing is definite yet to my knowledge. Cub Scouts is getting younger with the Webelos Cub Scouts more and more sucked into Boy Scouts and away from the Pack (new uniform, rank badge, etc.) and Tiger Cub Scouts more integrated into the Pack. Character is the new theme it seems.

"After a Scout has completed all of the requirements for any rank from Tenderfoot through Life and has had a Scoutmaster conference for that rank, he appears before a board of review composed of three to six members of the troop committee." {Straight out of The Scoutmaster Handbook} My question, who schedules the board of review, the Scoutmaster or the Scout? I would like the boy to take the initiative but only the Scoutmaster (or his designee) knows if the boy "passed" the Scoutmaster conference initially. Comments?

As per Bob White's comments about wearing the neckerchief "in" or "out", it really doesn't matter but a Troop or Pack should all wear the uniform uniformly. That is either all wear it under the collar or all over the collar.