Issue 600 – May 21, 2019

I’m looking at a postage stamp at the moment. Just a tiny bit of paper with some ink on one side and glue on the other. Pretty insignificant, you’d think. After all, the envelopes and packages it’s affixed to are often much more valuable, carrying contracts and paychecks, letters of remembrance and love and friendship, and all sorts of stuff. In the face of all this, that tiny stamp is hardly worth noticing. Or is it? After all, without that stamp, not much happens—the contracts and paychecks and letters and such never get to their intended receivers without that little piece of paper. So what can we really say about that stamp? How about this… Once it starts its job, it sticks to it till it’s accomplished.

Hmmm… Sounds like a Scout to me.

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Hi Andy,

We’re looking for some help on a sort of sticky situation. We have a Scout in our troop—he’s been registered with us going on four years now—whose only activity with our troop is to go to summer camp. He only attends the one troop meeting when camp sign-up comes around once a year and then, when he gets to camp, he spends most of his time disregarding his leaders (both youth and adult) and just doing as he pleases.

Every year for the past three years, his mother has signed him up for camp and then requested “campership” funding from our troop and from our council, too. So far, for three years running, our troop and the council have both underwritten her son’s summer camp costs. But also throughout each of these three years, he’s skipped troop meetings, skipped troop service projects and troop-wide fund-raising events (ironically, the fund-raising is for troop camperships!), and hasn’t advanced even a single rank since joining our troop.

So it’s that time of year again—summer camp sign-ups—and I’ve just taken on the Scoutmaster role for our troop. What do we do? (Name & Council Withheld)

This sure sounds like a parent who’s been gaming the troop; she’s found a cheap way to send her son to camp with other peoples’ money. And unfortunately, it also looks like your troop has painted itself into a corner by supporting the “game” for the past three summers. And here we go for a fourth time. I do understand the troop’s past actions—it’s trying its best to honorably and sympathetically serve the youth of the community. Unfortunately, it looks like this parent hasn’t been equally honorable.

Obviously, “camperships” from the troop need to stop immediately—that well has to dry up. Plus, the folks at the council level who grant camperships need to know right away about the game that’s being played here, so that they can stop this at their end, too.

Once the “free money” sources dry up—and they definitely need to—this parent may pull her son from the troop. I’m actually hoping this happens, because no further action on your part would be needed. But there’s no “guarantee” that she’ll do this, and she may decide to raise a ruckus about the money stopping, which ultimately hurts everybody. But keep in mind that this is what avaricious, selfish people sometimes do. So follow our motto and Be Prepared.

Here’s how: Contact your council’s Scout Executive, describe what you’ve just told me, and ask to have a conversation with the council’s attorney (every council has one), so that, if this parent continues to want to register her son with your troop, appropriate actions can be taken.

Your troop has been more than kind to this boy, but it’s definitely time for this nonsense to stop.
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Hi Andy,

A question has come up in our Order of the Arrow lodge that I don’t know the answer to… Can a troop have two OA Troop Representatives if they’re both actively involved? (Frank Caccavale, Woapalanne Lodge #43—Order of the Arrow, Patriots’ Path Council, NJ)

Great question! I’ve just read through the responsibilities of an “OATR” online and in the SCOUT HANDBOOK. Based on these, both of which are silent on whether or not the OATR is a single position (like Senior Patrol Leader or Scribe, for instance) or can be held by more than one Scout (like Instructor, Troop Guide, and Junior Assistant Scoutmaster, for instance). So I’d conclude that you’d be on safe ground as far as appropriateness is concerned. With that in mind, and with the possible advantage of having two OATRs who can create a “buddy-team” and both collaborate together or cover for one another as necessary, I’d also have to say there are some disadvantages to be on the alert for. For instance, when two people are responsible for the same thing, often nothing gets done (“Oh? I thought you were handling that!”). But here’s an important (and often overlooked) advantage: with, say, two Scouts in this position, but with different start-times (maybe a one-month separation in starting) there will be overlap that benefits perpetuating the troop-to-OA relationship. But there’s a caution also… If two (or more) OATR positions are being created (instead of just one), I’d ask if this is actually vital to success, or is it merely a way to find a “position of responsibility” for a Scout who needs this for rank advancement? If it’s the latter, I’d say it’s misguided and shouldn’t be done, because that’s not what Scouting’s all about. Yes, we’re here to be “gate-OPENERS,” but not to the point where we’re carrying Scouts through the gates
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Dear Andy,

Should Assistant Scoutmasters be expected to attend Patrol Leaders Council meetings? Why or why not? (Jim Syler, ASM, Greater St. Louis Area Council, MO)

Providing oversight and—occasionally—advice at a Patrol Leaders Council meeting when the Senior Patrol Leader asks for it is one of the more important responsibilities of the Scoutmaster. In fact, it’s entirely unnecessary for any of the troop’s adult volunteers other than the Scoutmaster to attend a Patrol Leaders Council meeting.

If, due to special circumstances, the Scoutmaster is unable to attend a PLC meeting, then one Assistant Scoutmaster may fill in; beyond this circumstance—which we’d hope is rare—there’s no need or value in an Assistant Scoutmaster attending a PLC meeting with the Scoutmaster.

Remember that the PLC itself is the “team” that the Scoutmaster has been building from the day these youth leaders were elected. ASMs have other responsibilities that don’t pertain to the PLC.

And, since we’re on this particular subject, let’s emphasize that the “chair” of all PLC meetings and planning sessions, and the one who sets the agenda and runs the meetings from start to finish is the Senior Patrol Leader.
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Dear Andy,

The daughter of a former Scout who is now in his early 80’s has contacted our council about her father. As she tells us, her dad was just three merit badges short of completing all requirements for Eagle Scout rank when he was, in her words, “called to flight school” by the US Air Force. He moved on from Scouting at Life rank and, although he pursued a military career and ultimately retired from the US Air Force as a Lt. Colonel, his single greatest regret in life, as his daughter tells us, is that he didn’t “get his Eagle rank.” I’m writing to you before vetting this story just to get a sense of any procedures that may be available in circumstances like this. If it turns out that the Eagle Scout rank is simply not obtainable at this juncture, do you have any suggestions as to how we might honor this veteran? Thanks! (Dr. Bob Clark)

If this gentleman was born around 1937 or so, he would have been a Boy Scout from 1948 to about 1955, I’m guessing. Reaching back in time, up until 1952, there was no age limit on earning Eagle Scout rank. But in that year the BSA established the day before one’s 18th birthday as the upper age limit. This means that since this gentleman had not completed all requirements for the rank when he joined the USAF on active duty, he didn’t have the opportunity to return at some later date to do so, since he would have been past his 18th birthday. The result: He is a Life Scout (the second-highest rank) and joins millions of fellow Life Scouts.

His situation isn’t unusual. Fact is, historically only about four out of every hundred boys who join Scouting earn Eagle Scout rank. (I might mention that going all the way to Eagle isn’t a “race”—all Scouts have the opportunity to do so if they choose, and it’s 99% based on personal motivation. As a 77 year-old Eagle myself, I earned this rank in 1957, at age 15.)

(There is a “Spirit of the Eagle” award, but this is posthumous only and only if the Scout—regardless of rank—met an untimely death before age 18…something I’m delighted to say this gentleman won’t be receiving anytime soon! Not ever, in fact!)

So the bottom line is that this gentleman is and forever will be a Life Scout by rank, and for this he should be extremely proud—he is (and has been) already in rarefied air!

He retired from the USAF as a Lt. Colonel; not a general. This in no way diminishes his dedicated and honorable service to his country. Life rank in the BSA isn’t very much different from this: He reached the second-highest rank in Scouting—which is in itself rare—and he did so based on self-motivation, learning unique skills that I’m certain aided him in his chosen career, and doing so with enthusiasm and honor. Congratulations to him!

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. 600 – 5/21/2019 – Copyright © Andy McCommish 2019]