Double Eagle

Trying to be brief on this. UC is a district level position as stated by Fred8033. The appointing authority (differs often between councils) for unit commissioners should not assign (in my.scouting.org) his UC duties in a unit he is part of. UC ideally should have 3-5 units assigned to them. UC visiting unit meetings may be needed if a reported problem exists, but 99% of the time are invited. UC should be a coach, teacher, mentor, and doctor for units and mostly adults/committees. Commissioners should stress the Journey to Excellence scoresheet as a thermometer for units to self-assess before a detailed assessment (minimum 2 per year) and simple assessments (done after almost every UC-units contact) are done by a commissioner. Short version: That UC should not hold a position in the same unit assigned to him.

Haven't heard of a council without commissioners. I know finding unit commissioners is pretty tough these days. Heck, Eagle Scouts are easier to find. Having been a commissioner since 2001, I've seen ups and downs between the 11 councils I've worked with. I would like to see a reason for more interest in the service. We also had commissioners on paper that did nothing. That didn't help the image of commissioners either.

How about a good look at the "Journey to Excellence" worksheet and head towards at least a Bronze rating? All those KPI can be ok, but wouldn't an advancement rep best report from their seat? SM is not a committee and should stick to SM stuff while committee can dig deep into expenses, advancement, recruiting. Pretty much the team while the SM is quarterback.

I"m sure this camp falls under a council. How about bringing it up to the council board. Just not going is good for your unit, but leaves the same problem that would fill your troop's week. How about identifying the troop to council and camp that took over the latrine. I'm more of the thinking Scouts can be courteous, but not a weak victim and just take it on the chin. Standing up for yourself and others is scout like too...brave? And to those leaders on the site (I hope they contribute) that condone taking over the latrine, you allowed Scouts to show an ugly side of shared camping and will be used as a negative example for some time.

My point about rangers and staff is they still have to be registered, even if a unit has several adults. Anyone on troop overnighters have to be registered and YPT. Not looking for the 2-deep piece, but rather who are authorized to stay on overnight events.

The big thinkers in the site are digging into this area, thanks. As a Scouter not in a unit, registered and YPT District Staff only, I have accompanied camping Troops when they lacked a registered Scouter. I fit the requirement and we had the campout. Otherwise, the unit would have cancelled the campout due to lack of adults. I'll have to ask the council the question on whether it has to be any BSA registered and YPT adult, or one registered to a specific unit only. Seems kinda dumb to be a "unit-specific-only" restriction (restriction used lightly). If unit-registered-adult only, I wonder how they work summer camp and the High Adventure Bases with guides, rangers, and staff that may accompany troops on overnighters. Philmont Rangers is a good question as they stay multiple nights with treks.

Its a wonder what shop decision makers do at the BSA. Seems the OA bolo tie is discontinued. This is not a positive, but rather a negative for any future arrowmen (loose term). On-line Scoutshop only shows 6 bolos available, 3 are commissioner ones. They do carry expensive Osprey backpacks and expensive knives no adult would risk taking on a campout. Seems the days of scouts getting national-branded gear and items is in the past. Shame as I remember when every scout had a BSA mess kit, canteen, Camillus or Ulster knife, and a vit'l kit. Old timers had the red wool coats (still available) and campaign hat. SMH at how Scouting has become a rich-kid game and scouts rely on cheap-quality, new stuff, or buy "vintage" items to get what they need.

I was hinting at this in my second paragraph. Overnighters is the easy explaination. Unregistered adults attending troop events, whether day trips or things like bowl-a-thons, have been a hot discoussion point within our council. When in doubt, get the paid Scouters to advise.

I'm hoping this follows the lines of bearskin rugs. Where I live and hunt bears, few people ever place their bearskins on the floor to be walked on. They go on walls to be admired and treasured. Maybe those will be seen the same way. Shameful to think our flag would be walked upon and feet wiped on it.

There may some SM mis-interpretation. Meetings have much different rules for YPT vs outings and overnighters. Parents or guardians are never banned from observing events/meetings. Interaction and attending different depending on the event. Selling popcorn outside store will most likely have unregistered adults mixed with registered adults. The unit has to enforce YP in that case. The biggest recent changes have stressed the "registered" adult versus just any adult. Event attendance is now for registered adults only thing for scouts, packs have different rules. We held an October roundtable to address the recent changes, hold a forum with two scout executives, and have open discussions with interpretation. Basically, I came away with, if you don't practice YP as outlined (yes, there are a lot of gray areas), the event, scouts, leaders, and Chartered Org may not be covered by council insurance.

Determine whether you need a 4 season tent or the conditions they will camp overnight. If a 4 season scout unit, lean towards a good rainfly that reaches to the ground, skip the footprint and get 10mil plastic, a vestibule is good for keeping muddy boots out of the tent. If they are a 3-season unit, the Coleman Sundowner is pretty popular. My personal tent is a Eureka timberline 2 with vestibule. Used on at Philmont in the 80s and liked it. Been in one for more than 20years and own 3 right now. Best buy was getting one at a yard sale for $10.

One word of caution for late cross overs, contact the gaining troop early, say November, to inquire about summer camp location, cost, and penalty for late reservation. The scout doesn't need to know about financial obligation just yet. I've had some cross over and not go summer camp until they were established in troop, parents are good with the unit, and work towards the 1st year First Class rank so the next summer, they are working towards program and MB.

A couple of things on this. No hurry to get them to cross over. I'm more in favor of late (May) cross overs and enjoy the open calendar to do things as an AOL den besides requirements. With early cross overs (Dec - Mar), the pack doesn't benefit from having the AOL den participate. They can do some great things to keep the other dens enthused. Hard to say they operate as a patrol with 3 scouts, just my thoughts. There are no feeder packs so take the extra calendar time to visit troops in the area and not the same chartered org troop. Troops should be inviting your AOL to events and actively recruit them. A troop meeting time and day may a decision point for a scout/family. As for den chiefs, talk to local troops or hit up a commissioner for the need. Den chiefs need to be in position for a year (I think) to get awarded their DC award.

A few quick comments again. 1. As for the corn maze. You may require him to be escorted with a parent or trusted adult the unit Key 3 approve. He can participate, but only under that condition. You may make his adult supervision/condition part of the observation/probation time. 2. Not to play anything legal into this, but a 6 month suspension from scouts could generate a question on whether he forfeits his 6 months of registration fee or BSA, council, units benefit from his full registration fee, without scout being "active". Since the suspension would be a council/unit decision and not the family's, they may question it whether the scout is at fault or not, tried or not. The suspending authority has to be ready to answer this. If the family introduces the suspension, it is a self-imposed decision, not the council/unit.

Depends whether the Scout(s) lose tools often. If they can keep tools and not lose one every campout, Target has the Gerber Gear Suspension Multi-tool for about $29. That would get them from Scout to Eagle without a problem. If they lose a knife or tool every campout, stick with the cheap Ozark Trail multi-tool for under $8. If you need this tool as a starter for Scouts, it won't break the bank. When I teach whittlin chip to Bears, I like to buy Dollar Tree swiss army knives for them to take home. Victorinox are the next step. I also have to help Cub parents to not buy knives over $20 as the 3 things Scouts do with knives: 1. Sharpen them. 2. Cut themselves. 3. Lose the first knife.