Double Eagle

fred8033 is 100% correct in his post. Too often national takes forever to finalize paperwork where it can take months to receive anything back. Also, the ECOH is what the scout decides as formal as wanted and timing to their liking. Pretty much the family wants in conjunction with the troop. Most of the time the ECOH will review the scout's adventure on the trail with a story, display, location, and acknowledge the mom/dad pins, mentor pin(s), any neckerchief/bolo/slide, and gifts from scout friends. Hope this shed more light on your situation and gives you some backing on what actions you wish to take.

You have quite an issue on many fronts. The first advice is grab a unit, ADC, or district commissioner for assistance. If you don't know them, ask the district executive for the point of contact. They should be able to help in many ways. As for camping short-termed issue, speak with the camp director about a provisional status that you can share a site with another troop and share adult coverage. With the number of scouts you have, it should be doable. Swapping leaders half week is common. The late notice cancellation and physical is terrible news and you shouldn't have to personally pay for it. If the CC is throwing up their hands, time for a new CC. As for recruiting, word of mouth is the most successful recruiting tool. Have scouts wear Friday class B shirt if they are willing. All year round is cool, as our older scouts wear their philmont, OA, and jamboree shirts to show them off. If all else fails, take a break for a month this summer from troop time. Let some behind the scenes actions work among the adults and relook the situation. May help to back off and relook after a short period.

And this is not too uncommon among really young eagles. A couple of ideas pop in mind. As for the COH, there may be minimal participation by those offended during the weekend. Without publicly boycotting the event, a heads up to the parents is in order. If someone feels he is not representing the Eagle rank, they can bow out. I've seen this many times. I wonder how the other troop Eagles reacted or will react to this behavior. Definitely a leader/committee-to-parents meeting is needed. Without hearing the Scout's side, not sure why he would not help out. If he is the oldest member of the troop and highest ranking, I can see where he may get a big head with "I'm an eagle, I don't have to do it" mentality. Worst case as stated above, may be time for him to perform or join a different scout unit such as crew or ship where older, more experienced scouts may change the behavior.

My initial take is you could count the 8.5 backpacking miles, but the 6.5 may be considered hiking, but not backpacking. There is a definite difference between the two. Also, consider the intent of the merit badges. As much as some may overlap, there is a benefit to a separate mindset. I applaud you and the scouts for the entire program and outing.

This is in reference to SSScout. I was in a similar situation when called by the Scout Exec and Council Commissioner to go from ADC to Dist Commish. My first question is what happened to the current Dist Commish? He was going to cross lanes and become the new District Chair. That was the good part as I let it be known that I would not be part of bumping him out unless voluntarily. I think it is poor business to not give the interim person the opportunity first, unless there is just cause.

For mrjpohns2, that is rather interesting concept rather than a national rule I think. Imagine being a district key 3 and signing up the next year's key 3 for all kinds of things they have no knowledge or interest in. It often takes more than a year to understand the mechanics of district, service area, or council after merges, realignment, and new units added. A new advancement chair each year would be interesting to see that work successfully. And then...you must have a bench of volunteers ready to step up/in. Not a fan of mandatory 1yr term limits in any unit or level.

For Tron, you do reference local policies. The lodge advisor term and dues paying parent is local. One dangerous situation is when the lodge chief and advisor are in the same household. It can be friction whether the conversation is from parent/youth or chief/advisor. You are correct on the 1year term on district/council positions, but no term limits by national. From a commissioner standpoint, a couple awards require 3yrs of a 5yr periods.

Worst case, the supreme chief of the fire (council executive) could give the nudge. The lodge advisor would be the one to address this with a chapter advisor. Yup, I've been both. If the lodge has an upcoming lodge leader development, it would be a good time for associate lodge advisor(s) and adults to address this in an adult forum. I'd give a mentor or friend of the individual a chance to talk sense. Maybe with a long tenure, it is time for new roles or new blood into that area.

Since Eagledad brought up the ticket items, I'd like to see them too. I've been troop guide and ASPL for WB, so learner's course makes it 3 WB courses in 3 different councils. Ticket writing was the worst part for troop guides and participants. One course wanted them to cure cancer and save BSA in every way. I'm not a fan of the dancing, so glad to see it went away. Critter pride is not emphasized as much either, but always an Eagle and honorary Fox (red dog).

Just to get back to the question, my experience with lone scouts has been overseas where no BSA presence was. We used the local embassy for assistance as the scout had a parent working at the embassy. As for which council or national level to work with, is a question. Some lone scouts use the Far East Council for resources when in their footprint. Another time we had lone scouts in remote Alaska as units were really few and far between. I also have the international scouter award knot and earned the international scouter patch shown above (the blue one). If you ever get a chance, Kandersteg International Scout Center in Switzerland is awesome, winter or summer.

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.