DOD/DOW Money Talks Free Military Memberships Hypothesis

[Tron]

So my understanding is that the West Point Camporee is a go but we don't know much except that the formal sponsor has changed to the cadet association (from what I have heard). It is also my understanding that the military is going to continue its support of the national jamboree. 

There are not clear military membership numbers from what I can see at my level; however, I have some visibility into the European Command and Indo-Pacific Command memberships because of the special BSA councils set up to support the accompanied families. 

My hypothesis on the free memberships for military families is this: The DOW basically told Scouting America that the DOW costs to support just the jamboree were SO high that they want something back for the military if the partnership was going to continue. Part of the give back is the free memberships for military families. I estimate that BSA is going to give up around $638,000 in membership fees each year; however, I also estimate that the cost of the US Army providing a 9-line to the national jamboree (just that 1 line item of support) is going to cost the DOW $880,000. I am thinking that this was all a money issue of "Give us something or you can go out and pay for what we give you for free". 

I will say this, the free memberships for military families is a great thing. There are a lot of junior enlisted families that have ZERO disposable income to put towards a program like scouting for their children. BAH and BAS barely cover living expenses for married junior enlisted. There are E1s out there trying to cover all other living expenses for their families on pay lower than what McDonalds flunkies get paid. 

[yknot]

14 hours ago, Tron said:

So my understanding is that the West Point Camporee is a go but we don't know much except that the formal sponsor has changed to the cadet association (from what I have heard). It is also my understanding that the military is going to continue its support of the national jamboree. 

There are not clear military membership numbers from what I can see at my level; however, I have some visibility into the European Command and Indo-Pacific Command memberships because of the special BSA councils set up to support the accompanied families. 

My hypothesis on the free memberships for military families is this: The DOW basically told Scouting America that the DOW costs to support just the jamboree were SO high that they want something back for the military if the partnership was going to continue. Part of the give back is the free memberships for military families. I estimate that BSA is going to give up around $638,000 in membership fees each year; however, I also estimate that the cost of the US Army providing a 9-line to the national jamboree (just that 1 line item of support) is going to cost the DOW $880,000. I am thinking that this was all a money issue of "Give us something or you can go out and pay for what we give you for free". 

I will say this, the free memberships for military families is a great thing. There are a lot of junior enlisted families that have ZERO disposable income to put towards a program like scouting for their children. BAH and BAS barely cover living expenses for married junior enlisted. There are E1s out there trying to cover all other living expenses for their families on pay lower than what McDonalds flunkies get paid. 

Somewhere I saw that the number of military memberships overall is around 25,000. If that's true, then waiving the national fee for those youth will remove around $2 million. A lot of money, but not catastrophic although it likely means another increase in the national fee, which might be further amplified by the effect of the ongoing membership drop. 

[skeptic]

As I noted locally, we now pretty much have the ball in our respective courts, and we are challenged to find the correct direction, on our local levels.  This can lead to some truly great outcomes, but it may also find greater challenges for locals, especially those already struggling.  Local councils are an enigma it seems, either poorly led, or simply overwhelmed by National directives and erratic direction.  Time will tell.  I hope the true Spirit wins out and comes out stronger.  

[Tron]

4 hours ago, yknot said:

Somewhere I saw that the number of military memberships overall is around 25,000. If that's true, then waiving the national fee for those youth will remove around $2 million. A lot of money, but not catastrophic although it likely means another increase in the national fee, which might be further amplified by the effect of the ongoing membership drop. 

If giving away 2 million in free memberships is cheaper than paying for things like the West Point Camporee and JAMBO it's still a win for scouting. 

3 hours ago, skeptic said:

As I noted locally, we now pretty much have the ball in our respective courts, and we are challenged to find the correct direction, on our local levels.  This can lead to some truly great outcomes, but it may also find greater challenges for locals, especially those already struggling.  Local councils are an enigma it seems, either poorly led, or simply overwhelmed by National directives and erratic direction.  Time will tell.  I hope the true Spirit wins out and comes out stronger.  

Not really, there is no such thing as "ball in our respective courts" in a franchise based organization. Councils, districts, and units either align to the national program and directives or eventually get burned. I would suspect that if the national debt is retired at the end of 2028 as planned we will see significant changes in how national responds to all of these rogue councils doing their own thing. Right now national is too busy trying to keep the house from burning down to worry about the outhouse.