Webmaster extraordinaire and equally terrific Scouter, Mike Bowman, responds to a question\u2026<\/p>\n
Does your primary registered position need to be as a Commissioner (UC, ADC, or otherwise) in order to serve as a Commissioner? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n We maintain <\/span>http:\/\/netcommish.com<\/a> as one of our sites\u2014It\u2019s devoted to Commissioner service matters. Your primary registration should be that of Commissioner to be a Commissioner in a perfect world, but the world is imperfect. National policy is that you should only serve in one primary role as an adult leader. We know that many people serve in multiple roles and that things can be complicated. If you\u2019re registered as a unit leader and changing your primary registration would leave the unit with insufficient leaders to renew their charter, then the preference of the local council is almost universally that you stay registered as a unit leader and treat any other role (including that of Commissioner) as secondary. There can be an impact on your eligibility for adult recognitions, of course: If you\u2019re registered only as a unit leader and you\u2019re simultaneously performing Commissioner work but not multiple-registered as such, then tenure in that \u201cinformal\u201d role can\u2019t be recorded, or recognized. So you want to also be registered as a Commissioner as well. Generally, your local council registrar will be able to help you with how they prefer to handle these issues. My esteemed colleague and the author of our twice-monthly Commissioner feature, “ASK ANDY” may have some additional information or views on this\u2014He is more actively involved in Commissioner work that I am these days and so I would defer to him. <\/span><\/p>\n So, here\u2019s what Ol\u2019 Andy has to say about this\u2026<\/p>\n A Scouter’s “primary registered position” really only matters when it comes to the annual BSA registration card. If you want it to say “Commissioner” (as in UC, ADC, DC, CC, etc.) then you’ll want to make this your primary position when you go through annual registration or re-registration. But this doesn’t mean you can hold only a “Commissioner code” position and no other. You can certainly wear other hats in Scouting, if that’s what you like doing (and you have the time and a very<\/em> forgiving spouse!). But\u2014and this is a little-known and even more rarely observed fact\u2014the BSA says very specifically that you’re not permitted to be both a Commissioner and<\/em> a unit leader. Yup, that’s actually in writing. You’ll find it in the book, COMMISSIONER ADMINISTRATION OF UNIT SERVICE<\/span>. “Unit leader,” of course, refers to the key positions of Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, (Team) Coach, (Sea Scout) Skipper, and (Venturing) Crew Advisor, and it implies (but doesn’t expressly specify) the Assistants to these positions as well. To my way of thinking (think about Mike’s “perfect world”), this should include Den Leaders and Webelos Den Leaders, too. Why? Because the adult volunteers who most directly serve youth\u2014the folks who are “where the rubber meets the road”\u2014are the folks who least need to clutter their vision, objectives, time, or resources with any other Scouting responsibilities!<\/p>\n And then our Scouter friend wrote back\u2026<\/p>\n The actual issue is this: I\u2019m on my council\u2019s executive board, and registered that way. A while ago, my home district asked me to serve as an ADC, and I agreed. My district duly took my new application to the council registrar, but I somehow wound up registered as a district member-at-large instead of as an ADC. No big deal, I thought. But when it came time for Commissioner recognition, they told me that even though I\u2019ve been serving as an ADC, no tenure in that position can be counted because the primary<\/span> registration must be that of Commissioner. I\u2019m in my 50th<\/sup> year as a Scout and Scouter right now\u2014The year is almost over, and now the council is telling me that I can be recognized for my Commissioner tenure if I just pay another registration fee, which they\u2019ll make \u201cretroactive.\u201d (They\u2019re doing this to others, to, and they\u2019re also asking for a capital campaign pledge.) What do you make of this? I\u2019m doing my job, it\u2019s known that I\u2019ve been doing the job, but unless I pay another registration fee, it\u2019s “Sorry, Charlie”! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s what Mike had to say:<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the way I\u2019d do it, if I were \u201cking for a day,\u201d but it\u2019s fairly common practice in a lot of councils where meeting financial goals is a struggle. When I was the ADC for our district, I paid a separate registration fee for the position, in addition to the one I paid as a member of the District Committee and the one I paid as a Unit Committee Member. (I had more than five years of service as a Commissioner before registering as such and over ten years before I received the Distinguished Commissioner Service award.) I applaud you on keeping registered continuously for nearly 50 years\u2014That\u2019s outstanding! If I had kept continuously registered, I’d be at 45 years now, but with moves around the country, that did not happen.<\/p>\n And here\u2019s my own two cents\u2026<\/p>\n Who are these council bird-brains? In the first place, you\u2019re registered as a board member, so that your tenure of 50 years will be realized\u2014and it darned well deserves recognition! In the second place, their \u201cprimary registered position\u201d babbling is nothing but baloney! Third, they can easily go back and make your registration as a Commissioner retroactive to the day you began\u2014there\u2019s a form to do this!\u2014and it doesn\u2019t require a penny more. All that\u2019s needed are a few keystrokes on their Scoutnet computer. That said, in your shoes, I\u2019d give \u2018em the ten bucks (or whatever it is) and tell \u2018em, \u201cI\u2019ll be making my decision about my capital campaign pledge as soon as I\u2019ve received my registration cards.\u201d<\/p>\n Dear Andy,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I have a question about the new Good Turn For America<\/span> patch. I can\u2019t find any reference as to the placement on the uniform, not in the INSIGNIA GUIDE or anywhere else I\u2019ve checked. Can you let me know the placement, or, if you don’t know, maybe another source to check out? (Bob Childress, UC, Baltimore Area Council, MD)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This isn’t as tricky as it might seem! The GTFA patch falls into the “temporary” category and, as such, there’s only one place goes: On the right pocket. Nowhere else.<\/p>\n (By the way, only a National Jamboree patch is permitted above the right pocket; only an OA flap is permitted on the right pocket flap; only a rank badge is permitted on the left pocket; nothing is permitted on the left pocket flap; and only the world crest is permitted above the left pocket of a Boy Scout’s shirt. Got it? Good!)<\/p>\n Hello Andy,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n What are the similarities between Venturing and Varsity? Also, what roles do parents take in these two programs? I see words like “shadow,” but that\u2019s not really clear. Also, what adult positions are there and how is the committee structured in each of these programs? I have been to websites for both of these, but they\u2019re kind of vague. Any help you could give me would be appreciated! (Wayne Christiansen, SM, Troop 537, Twin Rivers Council, NY)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Your own SCOUTMASTER HANDBOOK<\/span> should answer most of your questions at length, so here are some “short answers” until you can do some reading…<\/p>\n Inside a Troop, one can have a VENTURE (NOT “Venturing”) Patrol, and this is for Scouts age 13 up to 18. They wear their standard Scout uniform with a “Venture” strip worn above the Boy Scouts of America strip over the right pocket. They are a functioning patrol within a Troop, and will have supplemental activities in the “high adventure” realm\u2014there are pamphlets about these at your local Scout Shop.<\/p>\n A VARSITY Team, like a Venture Patrol, is for Scouts age 13 up to 18. Of course, they’re engaged in sports (in addition to their Scouting activities within their Troop) and have an adult coach (like an ASM) to guide them. There are sports pamphlets for Varsity teams, too.<\/p>\n VENTURING is a Scouting unit called a CREW and is for young men and young women<\/span> age 14 through 20. A Boy Scout in your Troop may be a member of a Venturing Crew in addition<\/span> to being a registered member of your Troop. Venturing Crews have an Advisor instead of Scoutmaster, and they have a unit committee of adults, just like a Troop, that supports the activities the Crew’s members elect to do.<\/p>\n Just like in a Boy Scout Troop, adults associated with a Venturing Crew are supporters; not leaders. The committee structure of a Venturing Crew is a little different from that of a Troop, but I leave it to you to get a VENTURING LEADER MANUAL and learn more about that.<\/p>\n Venturing has an advancement program, open to both genders. A current or former Boy Scout who\u2019s reached the rank of First Class before joining the Crew can work toward Eagle, if he wishes. Venturing is most typically high adventure-oriented, but doesn’t have to be\u2014the Crew itself (that is, the youth) decides on what it wants to focus on.<\/p>\n That should be enough to get you started\u2014But definitely do some reading! (I’d say more, but this is a column; not a training course!)<\/p>\n Hi Andy,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n When I was young, I started in Tiger Cubs and worked my way all the way through Eagle. After a ten-year hiatus, I\u2019ve gotten back involved with Scouting, and I\u2019ve recently been asked to be a Commissioner. The main question I have for you is about \u201csquare knots\u201d that I can wear. During my Scouting career, I achieved the rank of Eagle, earned three religious awards, and received my Arrow of Light. Also do you know where I can find a copy of the INSIGNIA GUIDE? (Jim Riley, Honest Abe District, Abraham Lincoln Council, Springfield, IL)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n You certainly do get to wear “square knots” as a uniformed leader! You absolutely should be wearing the red-white-and-blue Eagle square knot. It also sounds like you should be wearing one silver-on-purple square knot for youth religious award (only one knot, even though multiple awards earned\u2014but little “devices,” as they’re called, can be pinned on that knot). There is also a square knot to indicate your having earned the Arrow of Light. So, you can be wearing three right now. Other square knots are “earnable” by completing requirements of tenure, training, and performance listed on specific progress records\u2014The first one for you will likely be the Commissioner’s Training Award. If your local council’s scout shop doesn’t have the book you want, you can order it directly from the BSA’s National Supply Division by calling 1-800-323-0732 or going to www.scoutstuff.org<\/a><\/p>\n Hi Andy,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Our son\u2019s been in Cub Scouts for a year and has earned several badges and patches, but I have no idea where to put them on his blue shirt. I\u2019ve looked in books and on the Web and can’t find anything. Is there a proper place to put certain ones? Do you have a picture of a shirt you can send to me? He has his first meeting in a couple of days and I\u2019d like to get all of his badges and patches ironed on. (Rashelle Groskopf, Overland Trails Council, North Platte, NE)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, there are several places you can go for exactly what you need! And let me say right now that you’re terrific parents, for wanting to get this right, and going the extra mile to make sure! First, refer to your son’s Cub Scout book\u2014either WOLF or BEAR, whichever one he has. Look on the insides of the front and back covers of the book and 90% of your questions will be answered, because these are actual templates for proper positioning (yes, the inches up or down do matter!). You can also \u201cGoogle\u201d cub scout uniform inspection form<\/span> and that will pop up a \u201cpdf\u201d file that you can print\u2014this form gives you EVERYTHING! If you have a patch or badge that you just can’t figure out where it should go, write to me again and I’ll help you solve the mystery!<\/p>\n