Bugling Merit Badge Discontinued

[Bando]

Apologies if this has already been addressed...

 

It's been announced by Nationals that the Bugling MB will be merged with Music MB beginning in January 2011. As a former bugler, someone who earned the MB, and now as a MB counselor for both Music and Bugling, this is a pretty disappointing development.

 

Bugler has always been treated as a sort of second-rate leadership position, but an important part of why it was still relevant and attractive was the merit badge. Bugling MB provides a great framework to adequately train a bugler to be successful in a troop setting, as it's an important part of the scouting experience.

 

I know it's a dying art, and I've been fighting an uphill battle in my own troop to get the buglers to do more than just Taps at the troop meetings and Courts of Honor, but I can't help but think killing the merit badge will make bugling a true thing of the past. I really believe it's an entirely separate entity from the Music MB, and a skill that's more than an elective portion of Music. I also feel badly for the scouts I'm currently working with on the MB, as they've been waiting their turn to get in their 3 months as Troop Bugler to earn the badge, and I doubt they'll get it in before the MB goes *poof* in January.

 

Just my 2 cents. Saw it come across the BSA twitter and it's been digging at me ever since.

[desertrat77]

Bando, I'm sorry to hear the news.

 

I wasn't a bugler, but I always thought highly of those who served in the role.

 

It's a shame when an important part of scouting's heritage is discontinued.

[moosetracker]

Bando - I don't know if it is the same with a discontinued MB, but with MB's that change, the scout part way through the MB can elect to go with the new requirements or the old ones..

 

If your Bugler MB's have started it, it is worth the question of if those who have started it will have the opportunity to complete it.. If that is the case, those you are working with can be the last to get the MB.. (If so though I would pick up the MB patches before the MB is discontinued..

 

Maybe someone in this forum knows the answer.

 

That is great you have a troop active in that. We tried to offer the position, but it became a position the boy held and got away with doing nothing in, we might have gotten one force (*bad*) bugling attempt. Our troop discontinued the position for that reason.

[jhankins]

This is my favorite merit badge to teach. Some of my very best memories of junior and senior high band were my private lessons with a bugler. She had copies of an old Dan Butterfield bugle book and she would let me borrow it and learn the calls. I felt so very special for the chance to learn off the source material!

 

I think I'll make one last call before it's gone. Thanks for the idea.

[rdclements]

I agree with you Bando. I would like to know why they felt this was a good idea.

-R

[jhankins]

When you look at the annual stats of merit badges earned, most are in the tens of thousands, or even thousands. Bugling is right up there with... hundreds.

 

I'm not saying it's a wise choice, but from an interest standpoint, it's dwindling.

[Bando]

One has to look to the requirements to know why Bugling is a few-and-far-between merit badge. Is there likely to be more than one bugler in a troop at any given time? In a 12-month period, if you keep it to exactly 3 months, there's 4 candidates for the MB right there. You can have 40 kids in a troop in a given year earn any of the other non-Eagle-required badges. I know that's not the only reason Scouts aren't earning the MB, but it has to be part of it. Are there any other MB's that require a specific Position of Leadership for completion?

 

Not that I'm advocating that the 3-month requirement be dropped from the requirements, but considering the high-profile nature of Bugling in the tradition of Scouting in the United States, I just think this is a bit short-sighted. Was Bugling taking up some amount of valuable resources or stopping another important life skill from being a MB of its own? Isn't Bugling more important and appropriate to Scouting than Geocaching?

 

I'd love to see Nationals preserve the Bugling MB and couple it with a promotional campaign to encourage troops to utilize buglers and fit bugle calls into their programming, encourage Scouts to give it a shot, and revitalize an important part of Scouting instead of systematically putting it to bed by making it an elective portion of Music MB.

[DeanRx]

Don't worry Bando - I'm sure they'll bring it back as part of the 150th anniversary celebration. It will be one of a few "historic" MB's that can be earned THAT YEAR ONLY

[hendrickms24]

My Son is bummed out about this. When he first looked over all the Merit badges it was the Bugling Merit badge that he wanted to earn. He plays the Trumpet but needs some more time to learn to be able to play all the calls.

 

Mark M.

[dg98adams]

Just because it's retired does not mean it can't be earned.... Buy the Bugling book, find a counselor now. When you need the patch after earning it you can probably find one on eBay.

[boomerscout]

Hendrickms24: Your son will have until age 18 to earn his bugling mb. All he has to do is get a signed blue card and make initial contact with a counselor before the merge date of Jan 2011

 

[John-in-KC]

A note:

 

If you go to Scouting.org, thence to the Boy Scout merit badges page, it's already gone, and folded into Music.

 

I have not gotten a determination from Council that it's still listed on ScoutNet. One of these days, the old adage they can work a MB to the 18th birthday won't be so anymore ... the database weenies will determine when a MB can no longer be earned by having it unloadable to the system

 

For now, though, if you've got a youth in your Troop who even thinks he wants to earn it, get him an MB app signed by his SM.

[hendrickms24]

All,

 

I did not know he could do this so thanks for letting me know.

 

 

Mark

[BadenP]

It may be harder than you think to get your bugling MB, the scout shops in my area have already pulled them,the sale clerk told me "who would even want that badge anymore". The National site, as John already said, has already pulled all the information on it off its website. If you go to ebay the few bugling MB's listed are already going for over $10 a piece. As the old song goes, "oh the times they are a'changing."

[SSScout]

Well, hey, Irving wants to fundraise, ebay all the old stuff....