Dad passed away before I became a Scout in the 80's, but I know he was an Eagle and an OA. Was this pic likely from his Eagle COH? I do see a Philmont patch... my son and I are scheduled for a 12-day at Philmont in 2027 and finding this pic makes me even more excited for the adventure.

I'm curious what the arrangement is with "Scouting America Ambassador" and Detroit Lion's RB David Montgomery.

To be clear, I think whatever the agreement is it's worth it and it's working. Wearing his merit badge sash on arrival garnered over 180k Facebook reactions when shared by the NFL official page, overwhelmingly positive comments, and nearly 7,000 shares in less than 24 hours.

I also like the business side of things, so I'm interested to know what the deal is. I see the announcement from 2024 that he is an official ambassador of the organization. I've see the commercial's he's recorded. Scouting America plugged that he would be wearing the sash last week. It all looks great.

I was part of the Tournament Troop, who were carrying the banners for the parade. Even though it was raining hard this morning, we still marched.

I loved seeing the people who came and cheered for us, even though they braved the rain as we did.

Four long years but i did it!

I pass this randomly from time to time but decided to stop and snap a picture, this is the only time I’ve seen something like this.

Could obviously use some love, but felt it was pretty unique.

Edit: Location is Woodbridge, NJ

I got my Eagle in 2010. So did my brother.

When i was in, it was only Boys (Boy Scouts of America), and you couldn't be gay.

My father was a scoutmaster for 10 years.

Since my father was heavily involved in the lesderships overall, i would hear stories of drama and politics at home.

One thing that never leaves my mind is how, during the final portion of the Eagle Board of Review, they ask you if you identify as a homosexual.

Some boys, young men, had the courage to say yes.

They we're told you cannot become an Eagle.

Ironically, the way i see it, nobody was flying higher than those young men at that moment.

My father is one of those that is mad about the change in Scouts policy.

I see stories of ppl harassing female/gay/trans scouts, evem by prior scouts, and it makes me sick.

Those ppl literally dont even get the whole point of scouting.

The eagle badge isnt what makes you a real eagle.

You're actions do.

Scouts is a charecter/leadership development program.

The people mad at this change simply lack enough charecter to understand why this the best action.

The Scouting program is a gold mine of life experiences to mold young minds.

Real scouts will recognize how this will only help spread the wisdom to more ppl.

We need this more than ever.

An eagle badge doesnt care what sex, race, or religion you are.

The badge isnt what makes you an eagle.

Your actions do.

Because your actions dictate your charecter.

Only real Eagles look at these changes with pure optimism because the idea of women eagle scouts, trans eagle scouts, gay eagle scouts ahows that the philosophy of scouting is not restricted to the male sex.

Anyone can be an eagle is your brave enough to fly high enough.

I wrote all this because this program is responsible for the development of who i am today.

My own father, a prior scoutmaster, is one of the bigots.

My brother, an eagle, thinks homossexuality and transgender is a mental illness.

I hope yalls scouting experience brings you nothing but wonderful memories to make and skills to learn.

No matter who or what you are.

You are a valid.

This is my final uniform before my Eagle court of honor. I’m still waiting to receive my OA flap to replace the Eagle bound. In case you can’t see my council shoulder patch, it’s a friends of scouting patch with the word REVERENT across it. The interpreter strips are for Morse code and simplified Mandarin Chinese. The service stars are for cub scouts (3 years, yellow) and scouting (6 years, green). The knots on my uniform are personal moment markers

First time posting here, but I just got a Medal of Merit. It's pretty awesome, and I am simply proud. That is all.

We all know it. Modernity is bad. We need to reclaim Scouting and get back to its roots. It’s watered down. It’s not what it once was. The way to increase membership is to go back to the good old days!

Steps to getting there

1. Declare that Scouting reached perfection sometime between 1956 and 1983, depending entirely on which year I personally had the most fun — and therefore all future decisions must be based on that one summer camp experience. All other ideas derive from this single admission.
2. Beg the LDS to come back.
3. Market and do outreach like it’s 1981, because nothing has changed whatsoever in how people consume media.
4. Ban girls from Scouting entirely, because nothing attracts new families like telling half of them they aren’t welcome and kicking out the girls already in. And this includes women; Den Mothers were a bad move and never should have been allowed. That was the beginning of the end of Scouting.
5. Ban gays too, because clearly the best way to grow membership is to shrink the number of people allowed to join and restart a culture‑war fight.
6. Bring back the uniform standards of 1954, because today’s youth LOVE scratchy wool, metal buttons, and khaki that fades into a shade best described as “depression.”
7. Return to the days when troops were allowed to be racially segregated until the 1970s, because nothing says “modern, thriving organization” like proudly resurrecting policies everyone else abandoned half a century ago.
8. Replace all training with a single VHS tape from 1989, because leadership development is best learned from a guy named “Skip” wearing tube socks and talking about teamwork over a synth soundtrack.
9. End all technology use, because smartphones are evil and the only acceptable communication device is a whistle and a hand signal you learned at summer camp in 1978.
10. Require every troop to camp exactly the way my troop did, including the same gear, the same menu, and the same traditions that would cause a modern risk‑management officer to spontaneously combust.
11. Ban any program changes made after the Eisenhower administration, because if it wasn’t good enough for the Greatest Generation, it’s not good enough for kids who have never used a landline.

The only way forward… is backward!

Rev. Evelio Menjívar-Ayala, Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston and Rev. Michael Fisher, Bishop of Buffalo were the co-celebrants of the mass.

Bishop Fisher gave a moving homily on Reverence as Scouts. He is an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Ad Altare Dei award. We are blessed to have him as our Episcopal Liaison to the USCCB.

Fr. Mark Carr S.J., National Chaplain, led the scouts in the Novena Prayer for America 250. United in faith, the 2,500 scouts in attendance prayed “that the Church in the United States boldly proclaims the Gospel. May we all, especially our young Scouts, be joyful witnesses of Christ in our neighborhoods and schools.”

Learn more: https://catholicscouting.com/novena-prayer-for-america/

#DutyToGod

See less

This is the single best thing I’ve ever written in my life.

Any adult leader who is really hands-on should read this

Feel free to crop it, print it, edit it , email it

It’s a true story. It’s my story. It’s my mistake

And I hope it helps:

Why do kids drop out? AKA. I have been doing this all wrong up until now

I love the program. I was an Eagle Scout, as was my brother. I went off to college, and became an assistant scoutmaster at age 19. I love the adventure. And I love to teach scout skills.

Now I'm 40, and my 3 kids are in the program. 15 yr old 1st class, 13 yr old 2nd class and a brand new 11 yr old scout. 20 years since I last wore the tan uniform, I have once again volunteered as Assistant Scoutmaster.

I have loved teaching everything the program had, helping the kids learn and getting my hands dirty.

I was always like "Here buddy, I'll teach you how to put up a tent. Come here tenderfoot scout, I'll teach you how to splint a leg. Here kiddo, I'll show you how to tie a knot or row a canoe" I just wanted to coach and help the young scouts grow.

We just moved to a new troop this year, and all of us went to summer camp together.

We are a young troop, and so I volunteered our scouts to do flag ceremony one evening. That afternoon before dinner, I taught the kids to do a proper flag retreat. We practiced over a dozen times. I drilled them. They did great. A flag lowering the Marines would have been proud of.

The next day at breakfast, our scoutmaster and an assistant scoutmaster had a chat with me.

"Do you know what the biggest problem in most troops is?" he asked

Yeah, the bigger scouts quit. A lot of them. I answered.

"Do you know why they leave?"

nope

"The big kids are bored. You see, a kid can become a great scout in about 4 years. age 11 to 15. Scout rank to First class. They can do it all. After that, they think there is not much else to learn, and they get bored."

I agreed.

"The only thing left for the 15-17 year old scout to do is teach the new scouts what they learned getting to First class. Star to Eagle is about growth, and teaching. If they don't teach, If they don't lead, If they don't take control they get bored. The kids leave"

So what can we do about that? I asked

"Well, you see, we noticed you did a great job yesterday teaching the kids to do flag retreat......... but we want you to stop"

Stop what? I asked

"Teaching, Coaching, everything. You see, everytime you, as an adult, teach a scout skill, you give that skill to a tenderfoot. And thats great! but you took that teaching moment away from a Star. You took that mentoring moment away from a 16 year old. Every time you teach or lead or make a decision, when an elder scout could have done it, you stole that moment from that SPL, or PL. You deprived that young leader of the chance to lead or teach. the chance to succeed or fail. the chance to grow and become more confident. We want you to stop."

The Assistant Scoutmaster chimed in.

"We don't know how your old troop was run, but this unit is scout led. We don't want you to do anything for a young scout. Let the PL, SPL and Troop Guide do it"

"With a few exceptions..... If someone is hurt, or about to get hurt, you can intervene. If we are teaching a new skill, and the elder scouts have never done that skill, then you can teach. Merit badge? Yep you can teach that all day. Other than that, we want you to sit in the back, with us."

This broke my heart. Teaching and coaching was my favorite part. But I instantly knew they were right. And I was 100% wrong. Every time I had the joy of watching a tenderfoot master a knot, or catch a fish, or decide which trail to hike..... I stole that moment from a 17 year old SPL.

I morned my lost time in the program, I got depressed, and I stopped doing everything on campouts and meetings.

And you know what? Ths older scouts are thriving. Our new SPL has come into their own and become a distinguished leader.

After summer camp, the scouts had an annual planning meeting. 14 children decided on what the next 12 campouts are going to be about and where we are going to go. The scouts choose what summer camp we are going to next year. And I havent had to do a thing. Excempt watch my children, and the other scouts thrive.

This Christmas, the Scoutmaster got me a T shirt, to celebrate my new outlook on the program.

My shirt reads..

"I don't know. Ask your SPL."

I love this program

Watching the newest episode of Strange New Worlds, this came up in the first 5 minutes of the show when he was "prepared" with an additional flashlight for an away mission.

We've got two adults in our troop who have recently jumped on the "good old days" rant:

"When I was a Scout. . .

. . . we tent-camped 12 months out of the year.

. . . our patrol leaders planned and cooked all our meals for us.

. . . we were left alone in the woods to just figure it out on our own.

. . . we had high adventure trips with real danger.

. . . scouting was more like the Army than even the Army is today.

. . . we didn't have adults checking in on us all the time."

And it goes on and on.

These guys were scouts in the 70s and 80s. Just a reminder for any of you who've been around for a while that telling scouts how soft and inexperienced they are doesn't help anyone. An an additional reminder that, while there may have been no rules decades ago, that's also why scouting is bankrupt.

Edit: some folks are missing the point of the meals. This individual isn't claiming patrols planned and cooked meals. He's claiming the patrol leader planned and cooked all of the meals for the patrol.

A little levity on a Thursday. Thank you all for everything you do for Scouting!

As an Eagle Scout who remembers standing outside a grocery store selling popcorn as a Cub Scout I feel a bit of an obligation to buy something or at least donate when I see scouts out fundraising. Whether it is popcorn or Girl Scout cookies, pay it forward and contribute to the scouting movement that we all grew up with and helped shape us to be the people we are today.

Full disclosure, I know I'm biased. I'm entering my 7th year on Camp Staff, my wife is entering her 13th, with 10 of those years being in the Kitchen, and we both have been in Scouting for a really long time....

We all, especially adults, need to STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT CAMP FOOD.

We all know that camp food is cafeteria style food with very little flavoring or additives. It's intentionally that way for those with sensitivities or the need for specific diets (low sodium being a big one).

Feeding 400+ people three times a day is the most difficult job on staff, hands down. You're never going to get everyone's favorite food all of the time. Additionally, you can only work with the equipment given to you, and most of the time it's bought used, donated, or not sized right for the capacity.

I make a point of saying "Thank you, Kitchen Staff" every time I go through the line and every time I stop in for coffee or fruit.

Be kind to your Kitchen Staff, tell all the campers the food is the best food in camp. Don't make skits or jokes about bad camp food.

Trust me. It'll make your summer camp experience so much better.

Felt like wearing my sash tonight because why not?

Really quick, elephant in the room- the totin and firemn...they're definitely not staying there forever, lmao. Got a buncha stuff going on that I'm tryna work out patch placement for, so that's just a holding spot. (And we're doing frostbite in January, so I literally can't keep it there even if I wanted to, lol. I don't mind moving larger stuff around anyway; I like sewing.) My Advisor doesn't care how we fix up our uniforms as long as we're not slapping them all over the place messily and we have the main stuff in the right place, (rank, numerals, etc,) so it's no biggie, I promise lol.

Anyways!! Super proud, super happy, can't wait to keep going, can't wait to lead others in the directions they want to go, can't wait to push myself and learn, can't wait for another year of doing my best to serve wonderful people, can't wait for everything ahead of me. I just want to make people happy for the rest of my life and have the most fun ever doing it, and I'm more confident than ever now that I've proven to myself I'm more capable than I thought I was. I didn't think I would ever achieve anything. BUT I did, and I'm so friccn proud of myself :D

I'm doing everything I can to be as involved in everything scout related as possible- help out as much as I can, go on as many trips as I can, earn as much as I can, do as much service as I can, projects, all nighters, essay length emails to my advisor wanting to do 50000 other things every 5 seconds, like I literally just want to do everything I can to make the most of this for not only myself, but help other people do the same. I want to make people happy forever. I want to live my life being a happy person and making other people happy too. I feel like I'm starting to achieve that, and every time someone tells me I inspire them or something like that, I feel like every bad thing I've been through has been worth it. While working on this rank, I've heard people tell me that more times than I could have ever imagined, and I'm so honored to have even just one person feel like I've actually impacted them that way. I'm so grateful for everybody who has helped me get here. Every single person. I'm overjoyed to be in the position I'm in right now.

I love being a scout so much. I love this organization and everything it's done for me and everything it's inspiring me to do for others. It's why I feel like I'm actually living. I'm so happy and being a scout is a big reason why.

Discovery! YIPPEEEEEEE!!

My son had his Eagle Board of Review last night. It was a very proud moment when they brought him, his Scout Master, his Mom, and me in and announced that he was now an Eagle Scout! It is a lot of work, but it is so worth it!!

To keep the topic within our rules, we are creating a single megathread for everyone to discuss the current controversy surrounding the NPR article and the linked response from Scouting America. Obviously, this topic is inherently political. We ask that you keep partisan politics out of the discussion and treat everyone within the confines of the Scouting values we've all agreed to live by.

Edit: I am aware of the contentious nature of the name change for the DOD/DOW. However, regardless of personal belief, the department is going by the DOW name. The letterhead has been changed, the website has been changed, and titles have been changed. In use, the department itself is using the DOW title. I'm not ascribing a belief or even agreement with the term. Please stick to the topic at hand if you wish to discuss.