Scouting

I never really figured myself to be a big-time Scouter.  My own experience as a Boy Scout was, at best, miserable.  I didn't fit in with my troop.  The other troop members picked on me mercilessly.  I can't say I wasn't at least partly to blame, because once I started disliking going to scouts, I quit trying to fit in/get along.

Once I became licensed to drive, I did very little else with Troop 97 in Billings, Montana.  Instead, I would hang out with people that I actually liked and that actually seemed to like me.  I found acceptance with a wonderful group of friends, some of whom I still communicate with on a regular basis to this day.

And thus ended my scouting career as a youth.  I had given up when I was only a couple of merit badges away from earning the rank of Life Scout.  I had done most of the work to become an Eagle scout, but I would never earn that rank.

Quite a few years later, my own sons became cub scouts.  I was made Cubmaster in that particular unit, and I had a good time as Cubmaster.  However, my son's Webelos Den leader and I didn't see eye-to-eye on a few things.  My son didn't really seem to be enjoying going to den meetings, so my wife and I told him he didn't need to go to den meetings any more--that we would help him earn his Arrow of Light.

That didn't go over well AT ALL with the den leader, and it turned quite ugly from there.  I remember thinking that Scouting was failing me once again.  It had failed me as a youth, and it wasn't doing any better with my son.  I remember vowing that I would never EVER have anything to do with the Boy Scouts of America again.  I was DONE.

When my son turned 11 years old, he joined the local troop.  The 11-year-old scout leader was great and he had a good experience with scouting.  Things were getting better.

About the time my son turned 12 years old, we moved into a different home a little ways away.  My son started going to scouts in a different troop.  I didn't know any of the scout leaders in this new troop, so when it came time for his first week-long summer camp, I volunteered to come along.  I thought it would be a good idea to get to know these leaders, because they would be helping both of my sons through scouting over the next few years.

What a difference I saw!  I saw a scouting program that, though not perfect, was more of what I thought scouting should be.  We had a fun week, but more importantly, my attitude toward scouting began to change.

Instead of seeing scouting itself as the problem, I came to realize that it was the leaders' interpretation of scouting that was to blame.  The scout leaders of my youth were probably doing the best they could, but they weren't following the program as it was intended by the scouting movement.  My son's scout leaders were doing the best they could, but they, too, were not following the program as outlined in BSA publications.

A couple of years later, and I found myself in the position of Scoutmaster.

ME??  Scoutmaster?

I decided that I would do everything in my power to make sure that nobody in my troop would have the nightmarish experience I had as a young scout.  Nobody in my troop would be pushed away because I was doing the best I could, but I wasn't really following Scouting.

My first step was to get trained.  There is a lot of training that scout leaders can and SHOULD attend.  It takes quite a bit of time.  But instead of wondering how it's SUPPOSED to be, I had learned enough that I could start to implement what was supposed to be.

The last training I did was Wood Badge training.  It's the "PhD" of Scouting, if you will.  The nicest part of Wood Badge training was that I LIVED the Scouting program as it's SUPPOSED to be implemented for a week.  I saw the ideal, and could then start working to pattern my troop after this ideal.

Wood Badge training doesn't end when the week of practical training is over.  Each Wood Badge participant sets five substantial goals, called ticket items, that they work to complete over the next months.  Up to 18 months can be spent "working your ticket" and I believe that this is really the power of Wood Badge.

In my case, my Wood Badge tickets completely changed how my troop operates.  They have changed young mens' lives in my troop.  They have solidified my desire that no young man should have the horrid experience I had as a child.  They have helped me know how I can better help each young man in my troop.  They have helped young men not be pushed away because I wasn't doing it right--mostly because I wasn't doing much any more.  Instead, I was guiding young men in my troop as THEY began to lead and implement the scouting program as I learned about it at Wood Badge.

It's not always perfect.  Sometimes, it's not very well organized.  But I can see these young men grow as they learn the meaning of leadership.  I have seen lives change.

Tomorrow, I'm going to receive my Wood Badge beads.  My tickets are complete.  I have finished this part of Wood Badge and I will be rewarded tomorrow at a Court of Honor for my troop.

I went to Wood Badge mostly so people would quit bugging me about it.  I ended up learning more than I would have imagined.  I found friendships that will likely last a VERY long time.  I made some great memories.

But the most important thing of all is that I learned what Scouting is supposed to be.  That knowledge will continue to change lives for as long as they'll let me be Scoutmaster of Troop 770.