Issue 588 – February 26, 2019

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Hi Andy,

I’m a military veteran and former Scout. As Chair of the State of Michigan American Legion’s Scouting Committee, I regularly write articles for our Legion newspaper. I work hard at encouraging our Legion posts across the state to charter and sponsor Scouting units, but sometimes I feel I need a quote from someone they may know or respect, to get their attention and encourage them to consider this. So I’m wondering if you can help me.

I’m looking for re-printable quotes from famous military leaders about their Scouting experiences and how these benefited their military experiences.

The lists of famous military (active duty or veterans) with Scouting experience are long and honorable, but individual quotes are hard to come by. I’m hoping that perhaps with your resources and influence, you could encourage folks to write a few words about the value of Scouting in their lives—particularly their military lives and then send these to me, for publication. I know it’s a tall order, but if you could manage it, it would be a great help. Yours in Cheerful Service, Clyde Sinclair (Email: milegionscouting@usa.com)

Thanks for writing to me! Let’s start with getting something straight… I’m a boots-on-the-ground sort of guy, so I’m not at all certain I have much “influence” except to the extent that I try to provide accurate facts and decently thoughtful ideas for consideration to the folks who write to me. That said, let’s take a look at what might be done here…

First, for folks reading this column – If you have a military background and Scouting too, please write directly to Clyde at the email address above, with your personal insights about what your Scouting experience gave you that served you well in the military.

Here’s an example; it’s second-hand but makes a valuable point. I once asked a former Scout I knew well, who had graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, earned his Ranger tab, served in Afghanistan (two tours), and is now a company commander, how Scouting’s leadership emphasis helped him at West Point. He told me that, at West Point, “Many of us had been Scouts and a lot of us were Eagle Scouts, so we all knew pretty much how to lead. But Scouting’s ‘Patrol Method’ also taught us how to be great team-members, and that made a huge difference!”

In Michigan, there’s one primary BSA council: the Michigan Crossroads Council (michiganscouting.org), headquartered in Lansing. This council has a fistful of service divisions, so that sharing with the main council what you’ve just told me can have enormous “reach”!

Consider that being “famous” doesn’t have to be a criterion… I’d think that any serviceman—active duty or retired—who’s also been a Scout (Eagle or not) can describe how his Scouting experiences impacted on the quality of his military service!
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Dear Andy.

Who would I contact outside of my Cub Scout pack’s committee for an inquiry into a personal situation between myself (a Den Leader) and one of our pack’s committee members?

As it happened, an email exchange was misinterpreted because only some of the conversation was forwarded to a third party—our pack’s Committee Chair. When our CC approached me about the email conversation I’d had with the committee member, he took her version of the email and totally disregarded my offer to send him the entire conversation; he’d based his judgement of me on the committee member’s version of the conversation, which she had forwarded to him. Further, she told the Committee Chair that she’d quit the committee if I didn’t step down as Den Leader. So, for the pack, I stepped aside—but not down—so she wouldn’t quit. Luckily, I have an assistant willing to take over for me, so all is not lost.

But I do need to know who I can go to, to vindicate myself, since I went as high as I could within my own pack (that is, the Committee Chair) but to no avail. Is this even possible? I feel this is going to interfere with any chances of being a Den Leader in the future. Even in another pack, our community is very close and words—even partial truths–travel fast. I’m just trying to clear myself and I’m at a loss for how to do it. Please help if you can. (Name & Council Withheld)

The only person possibly equipped to mediate a Scouting unit’s internal difficulties among its adult volunteers is the local Commissioner—a fellow volunteer who, though “out-ranking” no one, can assist unit-level volunteers in resolving their internal conflicts. Based on what you’ve described, recommending that you reach out to your Unit Commissioner (or absent one, your District Commissioner) is about the only path to possible resolution I can see.

However, I’m also going to point out that resolution has very possibly already occurred, the moment you stepped back from your Den Leader responsibilities and leaving the den of Cub Scouts you had been leading, guiding, teaching, and building into strong youth on their way to Scouts to now have essentially a brand-new leader (yes, I know this person has been an assistant, but that’s a far cry from being the key role-model for these Cubs) half-way through the Scouting year.

Looking at the larger picture, the greatest loss here may be to the Cubs themselves because, although it’s good that your assistant stepped up, a significant continuity hiccup has certainly occurred.

Fact is, committee members are in administrative, non-youth-contact positions, and the absolutely most important and valuable people in Scouting are those on the front line who actually deliver the program itself, and—in a Cub Scout pack—that’s exactly what Den Leaders are!

As for clearing yourself, I don’t think I have good news for you… People may come and go but emails last forever, and can turn up in surprising places. There’s no way to un-state whatever it was that you said and it’s literally impossible to explain yourself to every single person exposed to that email exchange—abridged or not—or was told about it or will learn of it somewhere in the future. (Emails are often like grenades… “Once the pin is pulled, Mister Grenade is no longer your friend,” as a Marine once said.)

At this point in time, your better course of action might be to find a different organization—one that you’ll enjoy and where you can make a meaningful positive difference—and then roll up your sleeves.
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Hi Andy,

Here’s a cautionary tale that maybe you might pass along…

As Scoutmaster, I got wind of a mother accusing one of our Scouts of “bullying” her son. So I contacted her to learn the details and hear her side of the story. She told me that this alleged bullying had been going on for over a year, her son had told her.

I immediately mentioned that this was the first time I, or anyone associated with our troop, had heard about this and asked if her son had ever mentioned this before, with anyone, or had any conversations with the purported bully prior to now.

Her answer was No, so I then asked if she thought it might be helpful for her son and the other Scout to talk this out. She didn’t think this would be a good idea, so I offered that I, or one of our other adult volunteers might mediate between these two boys, so that we—the adults in the troop—could get the whole story and achieve some sort of resolution. Again, her response was No, and that we should “just move on and get through the year.”

This response more than surprised me, because, as Scoutmaster, I know both Scouts to be decent boys. Yes, the Scout being accused is generally more assertive (not “aggressive”) than the claimed “victim” here, who tends to be the more passive of the two, but, based on my own and my assistants’ observations at meetings and outings, there have never been any signs suggesting “bullying.”

In this phone conversation, I asked to speak with the boy himself, but his mother told me he wasn’t at home. So, after the call ended, and taking this seriously, I spoke with one of my Assistant Scoutmasters about this Scout, since he knows the boy even better than I do. But, it should be added that we both know his mother; she has a long history of complaints about how her son is generally getting the short end of the lollipop from the troop.

So, with no further accusations from this mother, my ASMs and I decided to move on, but to also keep a silent eye on both Scouts, just to see if anything arises in the future. So far (several months have now passed), they seem to get along just fine between themselves and with the other Scouts in their patrol as well.

Here’s what I’ve learned… One, never let things fester, as seems to have happened here. Two, take immediate actions toward investigation and resolution. Three, listen carefully but don’t take sides or accept accusations without substantiation. Four, if inappropriate behavior is supported by facts, investigate at the source without hesitation. Fifth and finally, if you’re hearing complaints from an overprotective (the kindest word I can think of) parent, allow them to vent completely (this eliminates “residue”), but check it out. (Name & Council Withheld)

Happy Scouting!

Andy

Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Write to askandybsa@yahoo.com. Please include your name and council. (If you’d prefer to be anonymous, if published, let me know and that’s what we’ll do.)

[No. 588 – 2/26/2019 – Copyright © Andy McCommish 2019]