COs - Who Are They and How Do They Rate

[scoutingagain 20]

CO - Methodist Church (Ironically I think all the scouts in the troop are Catholic.)

 

They provide a decent place to meet, but other than that have no direct involvement with the troop. I've never met the Pastor, although our CC has indicated she(the Pastor), has asked about the Troop and whether or not we were happy and were getting everything we needed from them. We don't ask for much, other than a place to meet.

We usually do at least one annual service project for the Church. I'd rate them a 7, maybe an 8.

 

COR, - Decent guy, former Scoutmaster. Lead the Troop for several years as a Boy Lead into the Ground Troop and we're still recovering. He stops by maybe, twice a year and an occasional Court of Honor. I'd give him an 8 as well.

 

SA

 

 

[mdutch 10]

CO-American Legion Post-5

We have minimal involvment with our CO. As a scout I see the COR once a year (for a sevice project benifiting them) and at the Eagle COHs. They do not provide for us financially, and stay out of our way. Because they have Bingo on Wednesday (our meeting) nights, we have to find our own place to meet (Public School).

[SemperParatus 1]

Update (hope the formatting works)

 

Church (11 responses) - Avg. 4.90

School (3 responses) - Avg. 2.00

VFW/Am Legion (2 responses) - Avg. 7.50

Fire Dept (1 response) - Avg. 10.00

Township (1 response) - Avg. 1.00

Military Unit (1 response) - Avg. 1.00

Chamber of Commerce (1 resp) - Avg. 2.00

Affliated Religious Org (1 resp) - Avg. 10.00

[fotoscout 15]

Me thinks it might be worthwhile to go back and ponder the results. It appears that the individual grading has a significant range for the same type of service from the CO or COR. Also, I think some used 1 as the highest, and some used 10 as the highest.

 

But all in all, I think this very small sample tells a huge story. The concept of the CO in todays world is flawed. They want to be nice and be perceived as contributing to the community (?), while at the same time, have nothing (or very little) do with their commitment. Remember, in theory, it should be the CO engaging the Unit not the other way around. The CO created the Unit; the Unit did not create the CO. Of course the extent to which the CO would engage the unit could also be matter of contention.

 

[CubsRgr8 10]

Former Pack

CO - Catholic parish - 4 - very liberal parish board had trouble with membership standards

COR - paper tiger - 0

 

Current Pack

CO & COR - 2; one of the "Friends of" groups, this group exists on paper only, but the paperwork does get signed

 

Current Troop

CO - Methodist congregation - 5 - provides meeting space and a dedicated troop room, enjoys an annual pancake breakfast provided by the troop, limited interaction

COR - 5 - former SM, great scouter, but elderly and increasingly infirm, so ineffective

 

[anarchist 10]

Fotoscout, I doubt many 'missed' the scale...most seeemed to feel their CO's were MIA.

 

NOT MEANING TO HI-JACK this thread...but is there a good BSA publication on the responsibilties of a CO vs the responsibilities of the troop to the CO????

I checked National, our council and district web sites and got a big "0".

Maybe we need to gently re-educate our CO's...

[EagleInKY 14]

Google on "charter orgnaization agreement" and you'll get some information.

 

The following is a document that your CO signed with council. I believe our council reviews this with the COs every year or so.

 

http://www.danbeard.org/pdf/annual_charter_agreement.pdf

 

 

[anarchist 10]

Thanks EagleInKY, pretty much what I was able to find in my search...you would think BSA would put more thought into a booklet to encourage/sell/educate CO's.

 

From what I have seen over the years (and see in this thread), most troops run their own show completely with little or no input/interest/assistance from the CO's. a lttle paper work here and there...Paper CO's?

I know ours did not want to even take title to our trailer (at no out-of-pocket cost)...they didn't want their insurance rate to go up...such support!