Andy is a Board Member of the U.S. Scouting Service Project, Inc. and effective July 31, 2012 is also a member of the BSA’s National Advancement Advisory Panel.
Andy is currently serving as a Unit Commissioner. He has previously served in a number of Scouting roles including Assistant Council Commissioner, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Den Leader, and Senior Patrol Leader as youth member. He is also Wood Badge, Sea Badge, and Powder Horn trained. He has staffed or directed council JLT courses plus NJLIC, NAYLE, and the original National Junior Leader Training Camp at Schiff Scout Reservation. Most recently, he served on the staff of the Northeast Region NAYLE course. He is the founding dean of Commissioner Colleges for two separate councils and also an Inter-Council Commissioner College. He is a former council executive board member and is an advisory council member. He has served on the staffs of four courses at Philmont and regional training courses. He has attended three National Scout Jamborees, as a Scout, a First Assistant Scoutmaster, and a National Staff member.
Andy’s recognitions and awards include: Silver Beaver, Distinguished Commissioner Service Award, Doctorate of Commissioner Science Award, Commissioner College Award, William D. Boyce New-Unit Organizer Award, International Scouter Award, District Award of Merit (2), Scoutmaster Award of Merit, Scouter’s Key (3), Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouter Award, Cliff Dochterman Rotarian Scouter Award, Scouter’s Training Award (4), Cub Scouter Award, and Webelos Den Leader Award. He is a two-time James E. West Fellow. He is an Eagle Scout and holds the Explorer Silver Award. A Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow, he is a former Chapter Advisor. He is also the recipient of the Kashafa Iraqi Scouting Service Award.
The Ask Andy columns have been read by Scouters in every Council in the USA and by Scouters in over 40 different countries. On average over 18,000 people read each column.
The column started on 23 November 2001 and since then Andy has written over 1.6 million words in reply to reader questions in over 275 columns.
In real life Andy is a real promoter of Scouting and has taken to the airwaves to champion support of Scouting.
In March 2012, Andy was the featured guess on a program of the Hunterdon County Internet Radio, sponsored by the Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce. Andy talked about the Scouting-Rotary connection with the host. About three years ago Andy started a Scouting Services initiative in his Rotary District (42 Rotary Clubs with some 1,200 Rotarians). As a result over 300 Rotary Certificates of Achievement were presented to Boy Scouts who’d earned the rank of Eagle and Girl Scouts who’d earned the Gold Award, across two Councils serving a combined 30,000 youth members of all ages.
(3/7/2012 – written by The NetCommish)
The NetCommish web site was selected by Scouting Magazine in 1998 as one of ten "Quality Scouting Web Sites." The article, entitled "
