{"id":62,"date":"2002-11-03T13:53:56","date_gmt":"2002-11-03T18:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=62"},"modified":"2011-11-03T13:56:05","modified_gmt":"2011-11-03T17:56:05","slug":"issue-6-november-2002","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2002\/11\/issue-6-november-2002\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 6 – November 2002"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Scout Salute to \u201cThe Other 98\u201d <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

My column in this issue is a little different from others. No questions or answers this time. Just a few thoughts about what it means to be an Eagle Scout, and what it means to not be. And this is really about the \u201cnot<\/span> be\u2019s.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve probably heard that \u201conly two Scouts (or only four, depending on your source) out of a hundred make it all the way to Eagle.\u201d Yes, whether it\u2019s two or four, or even some other number but close to these, that\u2019s still pretty rarified air, where those Eagles fly.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what about those other 98 or 96 or so? Are they \u201cgrounded\u201d forever? Short-changed in some way? \u201cMissing\u201d something critical to success? I really don\u2019t think so. <\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at some facts here… <\/span><\/p>\n

The Boy Scouts have \u201cAims & Methods.\u201d There are 8 \u201cmethods\u201d in Scouting \u2013 things like the Scouting Ideals as found in the Oath and Law, the Patrol Method, Outdoors, Personal Growth, Leadership, and so on. Advancement is certainly one<\/span>of these eight \u2013 but only one. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s look at the Boy Scout ranks \u2013 there are seven of them from \u201cScout\u201d to \u201cEagle.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

So let\u2019s do a little math. If a boy (like your own son, maybe) becomes a Life Scout, he will have been exposed to six-sevenths of one of the eight \u201cMethods,\u201d and (we hope) all seven of the rest. <\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe I need a new calculator, but that sounds like 98% of the program Scouting has in mind! And this means that even if a boy never makes it past the beginning rank of \u201cScout,\u201d but he goes hiking and camping, learns from his Scoutmaster\u2019s modeling, lives the Oath and Law, and so on, he\u2019s going to be getting nearly 90% of what Scouting has to deliver. Hey, 90% of anything\u2019s<\/em> pretty good, I think! That\u2019s usually an \u201cA\u201d in school, or close to it! Not bad for a\u201cnon-Eagle\u201d! <\/span><\/p>\n

So, for those Scouts or former Scouts who are Life, Star, First Class, Second Class and even Tenderfoot, when someone asks you your rank, please don\u2019t put the word \u201conly\u201d in front of it or start staring at your shoes \u2013 You have nothing to be ashamed of and much to be very proud of! And this Country has much to thank you for! Because you are<\/span> or were<\/span> a Scout. <\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cScouting Statistics\u201d tell us that, of the 233 men who became NASA astronauts, 133 had been Scouts and of these 33 reached the rank of Eagle. That\u2019s certainly commendable for those 33, but how about those 100 Tenderfoot-through-Life Scouts who became astronauts! Doesn\u2019t this begin to tell us clearly that just being<\/em> a Scout is truly what matters most! <\/span><\/p>\n

So, the next time someone tells you that Eagle\u2019s all that matters, you can tell \u2018em to take a better look around. We\u2019ve had some 100 million American boys who, since 1910, have been Boy Scouts, and I really don\u2019t think 98 million of them \u2013 us<\/em>! \u2013 have had some sort of inferior experience. In fact, maybe these guys had a little less \u201cpressure\u201d and a lot more fun! <\/span><\/p>\n

And now, a little message for parents<\/span>. Maybe your son\u2019s a little less interested in being an Eagle Scout than you! If that happens, maybe you\u2019d better start checking your<\/em> priorities! You son can have a \u201cmountaintop experience\u201din many ways in Scouting, and Eagle is just one of these \u2013 it\u2019s not the only<\/em>way. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s salute all Scouts \u2013 98 plus 2 \u2013 who get involved and stay with this wonderful movement. Scout-ing can truly last a lifetime, no matter what rank anyone is! Sure, most of us know about some pretty famous Eagle Scouts, like Sam Walton, James Lovell, Hank Aaron, Gerald Ford, and Steven Spielberg. But how about some \u201cnot-quite-Eagles,\u201d like John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Stewart, Harrison Ford, Merlin Olson, Richard Gere, Bill Gates, and a not-quite British Queen\u2019s Scout by the name of Paul McCartney! Nuff said! <\/span><\/p>\n

Happy Scouting, <\/span><\/p>\n

Andy<\/p>\n

Have a question? Send it via email to askandybsa@yahoo.com<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

(Issue 6 \u2013 November 2002)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Scout Salute to \u201cThe Other 98\u201d My column in this issue is a little different from others. No questions or answers this time. Just a few thoughts about what it means to be an Eagle Scout, and what it means to not be. And this is really about the \u201cnot be\u2019s.\u201d You\u2019ve probably heard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-14"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions\/63"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}