________________________________________ Dear Andy, For the National Outdoor Badge—Camping Segment, if a Scout spends the summer as a camp counselor at his local Scout camp, and stays in the same kind of tent that he would have were he a camper at summer camp, do all those days/nights of camping count toward this badge/segment? (Bob Fales, […]
Issue 398 – May 27, 2014
________________________________________ Have you ever noticed that, when somebody misreads or misinterprets an advancement requirement, it somehow never favors the Scout? Here’s yet another case in point… Hi Andy, My son’s a First Class Scout. He’s just completed all requirements for Star including a total of eight merit badges to date. All eight of his merit […]
Issue 397 – May 20, 2014
________________________________________ Dear Andy, We have an 11 year-old Scout who just recently crossed over into our troop. While starting work on his Tenderfoot fitness requirement (10a), he couldn’t do a single pull-up. After 30 days (for 10b) he still couldn’t do a single one. Neither can most of the other new Scouts. In my opinion, […]
Issue 396 – May 6, 2014
________________________________________ Here’s something different… a bona fide SUCCESS STORY! If you’re a regular reader, you already know that I advocate having the Scouts themselves decide what patrols they want to be in (meaning: which friends in the troop they want to hang with). Here’s a letter from Scoutmaster Jeff Freeman on what happens when you’re […]
Issue 395 – April 29, 2014
________________________________________ Dear Andy, In the BSA’s JTE (“Journey to Excellence”) program, the color order is Bronze-Silver-Gold. This looks weird. I thought it was supposed to be Bronze-Gold-Silver. What’s the deal here? (H. Sprockette, SM) Yup, that’s the order for JTE: Bronze-Silver-Gold. Even though the BSA has, since 1910, employed Bronze-Gold-Silver (as in Eagle palms, regional […]
Issue 394 – April 22, 2014
________________________________________ Dear Andy, Our troop committee members, together with a district advancement representative, recently conducted an Eagle Scout board of review. We declined the candidate. The vote was unanimous. In the course of the conversation, we touched on the Scout Oath and Law. When it came to reverence, the Scout responded that he had no […]
Issue 393 – April 15, 2014
________________________________________ Hi Andy, My son just crossed over into a pretty good troop. Based on my own experience as a Scout (my two highlights were being elected Senior Patrol Leader and making it to Eagle along with my two best friends) the troop seems to be getting lots of stuff right, like using The Patrol […]
Issue 392 – April 8, 2014
________________________________________ Hello Andy, I’m confused. In your column No. 390 (March 25th), a reader raised a question about Scouts not being able to repeat the Scout Oath, Law, etc., at their boards of review. Part of your answer was: “To put this in further perspective, although it’s fairly standard practice to ask Scouts to repeat […]
Issue 391 – April 1, 2014
________________________________________ The requirement with the fewest words and greatest clarity will be the one most subject to “interpretation.” The volunteer who takes all available training for the position, and the one who takes none, are both called Scoutmaster. All volunteer meetings start late…except the one you’re running late for. In precisely 91.37 percent of all […]
Issue 390 – March 25, 2014
________________________________________ Dear Andy, Our troop that is advancing Scouts that haven’t met the requirements. During a recent board of review, it was evident that a Scout advancing to the rank of Star did not even know the basics: the Scout Law, Oath, Motto, or Slogan. Yet our Scoutmaster and committee are signing off on these […]
Hint: Use Andy as a search term
About Andy
Scouting Cartoons
Internet Scout Patch
- January 19, 2022 January 19, 2022
- August 17, 2021 August 17, 2021
- APRIL 20, 2021 April 21, 2021
- APRIL 13, 2021 April 13, 2021
- APRIL 1, 2021 April 1, 2021
- MARCH 30, 2021 March 30, 2021
- MARCH 23, 2021 March 23, 2021
- MARCH 16, 2021 March 16, 2021
- MARCH 10, 2021 March 10, 2021
- March 3, 2021 March 3, 2021
- FEBRUARY 16, 2021 February 23, 2021
- FEBRUARY 21, 2021 February 16, 2021