Departure Points in a Tour Plan-Committee Chair Authority

[rraffalo 10]

Is it ok to have a "departure point" for the Tour Plan of a scout high adventure trip be in a state other than the state that the troop is based? Scenario: 8 people (6 scouts and 2 leaders) are going on a trip to Sea Base. One of the leaders and his scout son are going to be in Connecticut on a family vacation right up until the day before the Sea Base trip begins. Can the leader and his son in Connecticut fly to Fort Lauderdale separate from the leader and the other five scouts in Illinois and "officially" begin the trip in Florida at the Fort Lauderdale airport? There is still a 2.5 hour drive to Sea Base, so there is plenty of travel after the flight, prior to arriving at the destination (SEA BASE). Please let me know your thoughts... Our committee chairperson wants the two members of the crew in Connecticut to fly to Illinois to depart with the other 6 crew members from our troops home base. That happens to be cost prohibitive to the crew members in Connecticut. He is threatening not to sign the Tour Plan, and I'm looking for precedent as support. Nothing in the National Tour Plan Policy seems to suggest the crew members cannot travel separately. Thank you in advance for your input.

[CalicoPenn 729]

Sometimes, I wish it were ok to roll up a newspaper and whack people upside the head with it when they try to pull boneheaded moves. I'd be smacking the CC upside the head pretty darn hard at this point.

 

There is nothing in any BSA policy that states that a Scout, Leader, Family, etc. must travel with the unit from point of departure to point of destination (or vice-versa). It's pretty darn common for Scouts and Leaders to join up with their units having traveled from elsewhere at the point of destination. Happens with weekend trips, happens with long term trips. If a Scout has an event on Friday night of a weekend trip but Mom/Dad can drive them out on Saturday morning for the rest of the trip, does your CC insist that they can't do that? Lot's of families will drive up on the final day of summer camp to pick up their son and continue on to points elsewhere for vacation. There is nothing wrong with this Leader and son coming to join you from Connecticut rather than flying back home.

 

So what would happen if the CC demands this and the Leader who is going to join up with the folks from Connecticut decides to say the heck with it and just not go? With this amount of short notice, can you get a second leader to step in to save the trip because if you can't, none of you are going. Is that the result you really want? It's time to bluntly tell your CC that his "power" over the signature is minor compared to the power that the second leader has right now - you can work around your CC, you can't work around having that second leader on the trip. Is the CC ready to tell the parents of the other 5 Scouts that the Sea Base trip they've worked for the past year is cancelled because he won't sign the form because the other Leader won't fly home from Connecticut to then fly to Florida? Guess who the parents are going to be screaming at - it won't be the second leader.

 

If the CC refuses to sign the tour permit, can you get someone else to sign it? Say, perhaps, your new CC after you have the COR can this guys butt immediately for trying to harm the progam?

 

 

[FScouter 24]

Duplicate topic.