Once an Official Uniform... Always?

[Stosh 3452]

I for one wouldn't rely on what the "scouts" at camp staff were doing to provide examples of what to wear. I have one scout who accurately wears a uniform from the 1960's. The COMPLETE uniform is accurate as are all the patches on the shirt, piping on the pockets, and garrison cap.

 

The mix and match "class-a", "class-b", "class-c", "class-d", "class-f" and "no-class" approach to uniforming may be the standard out in the real world, but then the BSA uniform has become such a joke that most boys don't want to wear it. Duh!

 

Ask them if they want to wear modern military uniforms or do they think they're dorky? Ask them if they want to wear a football or baseball uniform or do they think they're dorky?

 

Do we see a pattern here?

 

Stosh

[John-in-KC 311]

Our Council Scout Camps both require a daily Class B of:

 

- BSA socks

- BSA shorts

Both of these are to the primary registration of the young man or woman. There is some flex for Venturing, Cabela's gray shorts and wool socks are permitted in lieu of BSA items.

 

Scouting belt (leather, nylon (Philmont or camp related), or BSA web).

 

Camp staff T-shirt.

 

Hats as desired.

 

For Class A wear, the staff wear the program shirt of their primary registration. It must be clean and fit properly. I've seen the Reservation Director send a PD to the Council Scout Shop to buy a new shirt.

 

Epaulet tabs are custom made to the camp, from the same sort of grosgrain ribbon used for the standard BSA ribbons.

[Eagle92 110]

GWDScouter,

Silver is for district and council level folks, gold is for regional and national folks. Rarely will you see gold loops at a summer camp. The only time you'll see those is possibly for camp inspection and if a national scout shop is running the trading post at summer camp. And last I heard that pilot program didn't work out and only Atlanta's council still has national running a trading post. Then again that's what an old boss told me.

 

 

At the two BSA camps I worked at, a "class B" uniform of scout/venturing socks, scout/venturing shorts or pants, scout/venturing belt, camp staff t-shirt OR camp staff polo (for the camp that did that), and staff hat. This was worn all the time except as mentioned below.

 

At evening flag and dinner, as well as the closing campfire the full uniform was worn. At one camp custom staff loops were worn, and this later as I described already. I like the fact that they wear silver, if in the venturing uniform, as they are employees of the council in that registration role.

[shortridge 184]

Liz,

 

Another thing to consider is that the camp may require the uniform to be "clean" - meaning free of any patches that indicate membership in a unit, since you're working for the council, representing the council, and not our individual units. That's what my old camp did. We either had to have a separate uniform shirt for staff, or else remove the unit numbers, POR patch, patrol medallion, Quality Unit patch, etc., and then sew them on again at the end of the summer. Temporary patches were generally frowned on, except for those from National Camping School.

 

While technically against the rules, near the end of my tenure as a youth, when my activity in my troop was lagging in favor of staff, Exploring and OA work, I wore my staff uniform as my primary shirt even during the year. I really liked the look of the silver loops - at OA functions, combined with my staff nametag, they even led to questions about working at camp.

[gwd-scouter 11]

Eagle92, you're right. I was mistaken because those in the trading post at our Council wear gold loops and they are the only folks I see in uniform. Ours is a national shop (Blue Ridge Council).