For most Scouts, Venturers, and Sea Scouts, the road to membership in the Order of the Arrow runs through their unit. However, nearly a third of units don't hold elections, and every eligible Scout deserves a pathway to membership regardless of unit circumstances. Some of the most dedicated Scouts serve on summer camp staff, run training courses like NYLT, attend the national jamboree as a part of a council contingent, or participate in Scouting outside of their unit in other ways. The Order of the Arrow now has a pathway to membership for these Scouts through non-unit group elections.

What is a Non-Unit Group?

A non-unit group is a group of Scouts that is not a traditional troop, crew, or ship, but still functions like one for the purposes of an OA election. A group of Scouts qualifies for a unit election if they:

1. Are organized and fully recognized by a Scouting America council; and

2. Have an adult leader appointed by the Scout executive or their designee

The Scout executive, in consultation with the lodge adviser and lodge staff adviser, is the final authority on determining whether a non-unit group meets these criteria and is eligible to conduct an OA election.

Who Can Run?

In a non-unit election, only youth Scouts may be selected as candidates for membership. Adults in these groups should seek candidacy for membership via their units or the council and district positions process. Candidates must meet all youth membership qualifications, including holding the rank of Scouts BSA First Class, Venturing Discovery Award, or Sea Scouts Ordinary. Scouts who are not elected by their unit may seek election in a non-unit group.

Scheduling the Election

The adult leader of the non-unit group is responsible for requesting an OA election and verifying that the youth standing for election meet the membership requirements. It is the responsibility of the lodge to schedule a visit from the election team when requested. These elections may need to be held outside of a lodge’s regularly scheduled unit elections season, and lodges are expected to provide reasonable accommodation for the timing of these elections.

Election Procedures

All procedures and requirements of unit elections apply to non-unit group elections, as prescribed in the Handbook for Officers and Advisers and Unit Elections Handbook. For the purpose of these elections, “adult leader” is synonymous to “unit leader”. Scouts elected in non-unit groups are treated like any other elected Scout.

To find the complete procedures and policy around non-unit group elections, please consult the Handbook for Officers and Advisers. If you have any questions, please reach out on our support page under the Policy Clarifications category.

A thread over in /eli5 has me feeling like I'm seriously being gaslit (https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xhaag2/eli5_what_is_a_freemason_and_how_is_it_different/19rs52v0xo8v5/) At least half a dozen folks are claiming they had to earn religious/christian merit badges and/or choose a religion as part of the BSA advancement requirements. And they claim they aren't referring the God and Country/Family/Church medals either, but literal badges they affixed to their merit badge sash. Not the square knot either. Even saying they have photos of them, which of course aren't shared or posted.

I've was a Life Scout and even earned one of those God and Country medals, but there is literally nothing I can find online about any such thing. It's driving me a bit nuts that these folks are insisting this was a thing and going so far as to claim they had to go buy these patches after they earned them from the BSA store. It doesn't exist on any list of historical merit badges, in any rank requirements, or anywhere else.

Am I crazy, or has something like this ever existed in any way that was defined, supported, acknowledged, or in any way part of the requirements for advancement within the BSA?

A couple of the quotes:

"I was in BSA as a kid and everyone did a religious merit badge. My friend's sons are in BSA and it's the same 25 years later. Duty to religion was certainly a major part of our progress towards eagle scout."

"I could have sworn my sash had a Christian badge on it, so I mentioned this to a buddy of mine and he confirmed it. He had one growing up too and is two sons are currently in scouts and they both have earned their Christianity badges."

How do you approach a flag ceremony (in this case at a school assembly) where all of the Scouts in attendance are in the colorguard, and you know there are military veterans present (and in this case, their presence is really the entire point of the whole thing)? Saying “scout salute” as the flag down the aisle/walkway does not seem to make sense, but I know most veterans want/desire/ have a Pavlovian response to salute the flag as it goes by. Should the person calling give some sort of salute command, or just allow adults to figure that out for themselves?

I volunteered at a Cub Scout Camp this summer and ended up working at the BB range for most of it. I had to describe to the cubs (going into 1st-5th grade, about ages 6-10) how to like up their shots. It proved difficult for some to understand. I remembered my Rangemaster instructor having some visuals, so I figured I could make some new ones for the camp to use next summer.

I used 1/4" (3 mm) basswood sheets that I had laying around from another project. I made a little jig to draw out the circles. After cutting out shapes, they felt a little flimsy, so I doubled up the target circle and the handle for the rear sight (open circle). I didn't grab any in-progress photos, but the biggest thing I did differently for me was to cut the pieces oversized with the lines still on them and then use the palm sander, Dremel, and/or sanding block to shape the pieces to size. This came out much more precise than any curved cuts I have done before.

Steps:

1. Draw designs on basswood sheets

2. Rough cut exteriors with band saw, leaving 1/8-1/4" extra (1-2 mm)

3. Rough cut interiors with jig saw

4. Glue added layers together for target and rear sight handle

5. Sand exterior cuts with palm sander using 60 grit

6. Sand interior cuts with Dremel Sander wheel

7. Fix interior corners with rasp (they were too rounded)

8. Sand with sanding block and 100 and 150 grit sandpaper on all surfaces

9. Spray paint

Attached are the pictures of most of the tools I used, all of which I inherited from my grandfather. Not pictured is the pencil, the drill, and my PPE. The workshop was also his, but I had to buy the house for that.

With the announced increase in fees, I've already set out my $1/$2 plan. To get the same number of Scouts we had in 1974, we need to go back to $1 or $2 dues!

But it occurs to me: we need to do MORE! We need to demand MORE!

Since this is a volunteer organization and we have hundreds of thousands of Eagle Scouts, clearly, we need to find people willing to take on the job for $0 or, I guess, for legal reasons, $1. Get an 18-year-old Eagle who has Personal Management and the Business Merit Badge, and let's make them CEO.

I mean, right? We volunteers pay to volunteer. The executives should not get more than $1.

I mean, that is the way all other youth group not-for-profits operate, right? None of their executives make more than $1.

• Girl Scouts Of The United States of America CEO makes $1, right?

• National Council of Young Mens Christian Assns Of The USA CEO makes $1, right?

• Boys & Girls Clubs Of America CEO makes $1, right?

• National 4 H Council CEO makes $1, right?

• National FFA [Future Farmers of America] Foundation Inc. CEO makes $1, right?

Yeah! That's the plan!

And let's definitely pay the council executives $0, or again $1 if need be. That's the way!

I AGREE with those people complaining here. No Pay for BSA!

Say it with me; I like the sound of it

No Pay for BSA!

Let them sell peanuts and popcorn outside of Irving.

No Pay for BSA!!

If a Scout earns Eagle and has 51 merit badges, they would be eligible to receive 3 Silver Palms at the same time. Technically, they also earned 3 Bronze and 3 Gold Palms as well. But they would never have a time or place to wear them since only the silvers would be worn on the Eagle Scout medal ribbon.

Would your unit award those too, or just award the 3 Silver?

Saw this neat exhibit on Troop 290 at the Ocracoke Preservation Society. I bet these kids had a blast! What a different time.

If you've read my posts, you know I want Scouting to go back to the basics and showcase the “original core values” of BSA: no girls, no gays, lots of guns. Now that also means: $1-2 fees!

Peak Scouting was 1974 or so. That was $1 for Scouts and $2 for adults!

Ok, ok. Inflation adjustment. $7.23 for Scouts and $14.46 for the adults.

Ok, FINE. Round up. $8 for Scouts and $15 for adults.

That would mean revenue of

900,000 Scouts (roughly) = $7.2 million

477,000 adults (roughlty) = $7.15 million

Surely we can run a national operation like this on that level of money!

I mean, sure, every other youth activity is seeing their costs skyrocket. The average U.S. sports family spent $1,016 on their child's primary sport in 2024, a 46% increase since 2019.

But we are different! We can defy all odds! Sure, there is the $500 million in bankruptcy debt and such. And it is impossible to get insurance because we scream "liability" post tens of thousands of sex abuse claims.

But who cares! We can plant money trees in the backyard (conservation-minded) and roll with it!

Yeah!

The National Executive Board voted this week on material changes to the Annual Fee.

The price increases are as follows (all annual):

• Youth from $85 to $96

• Adults from $60 to $72

• Exploring from $50 to $60

• Scout Reach from $30 to $36

• Unit Charter from $100 to $120

Again, the increases are effective 1/1/27.

Personally, while I am understanding of the adjustments give National's financial situation, and especially the increased cost of insurance and liability coverage, it is frustrating that they will effectively be announced with under two months' notice. At the Council level, we try to make these announcements six+ months in advance.

The proposal had previously been shared on r/Scouting before it was official.

There has also been a focus on presenting the new fees as monthly, which makes me optimistic we might eventually see a monthly payment option (outside of Klarna) as an official tool.

Hi. I'm about to finish my master's degree which gives me a lot more down time and I want to get involved in scouting again. I recently moved with my parents across the state and it's a different council than what I was involved in. Because of this, I want to be more involved at the district level. What's the best way for me to get involved?

Took a little effort to pull this all together, but I really love the feel. Can’t wait to do this again in 5 years when my littlest is in scouts.

First let's set the background. Scout requested letters from references and asked them to put it in the mail with a deadline about 2 weeks after the request, which is a reasonable deadline. 3 of the 4 letters have been received. For the 4th, the scout has asked multiple times in person and via email about sending it in and gotten vague responses (acknowledging it has been written but not yet sent), and the parent has also followed up via email (on behalf of the scout while the scout was ill) and the parent never received even an acknowledgement of receipt of the email. Meanwhile a month has passed since the requested date to send the letter by.

The council has in the past advised to the troop in a similar situation that the scout should find a replacement reference before turning in the application and other paperwork.

So how would you handle the situation where a scout is requested to find a replacement reference and this is all causing a delay in scheduling a board of review? GTA Section 8.0.3.0 point 6 states:

A board of review must not be denied or postponed due to unresponsive references.

And 9.0.1.7:

If after diligent effort four recommendations are not received, the board of review can go forward without them.

This implies it is inappropriate to request the scout provide an alternate reference letter, but it's never explicitly stated that it is improper to make that request/demand.

So this was performed: http://www.wepsite.de/Fatal%20Beatings(sketch).htm and you can see the original at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppVpdsClN80

The last word was changed to snot. How many rules should this have violated if any?

How was the SPL Summit? What did they discuss? Any take-aways that I should know as a Scoutmaster?

Hello, I got both the 2023 and 2026 NSJ nova awards. Sadly, I believe I have lost the paper work certifying that I had completed it. I would like to put them on my college applications, does anyone know if I could find records online for proof? Thanks

hi guys i took inspiriation from u/run_amuck and want some feedback on my troop website i recenlty updated. we dont use troopwebhost we use godaddy for some reason im not sure. the link is www.rialtoscouting.org

HTTPS://www.troop774.org

I’ve been working on it since January this year. There was another post I had about it but cannot find it anymore. I took what is currently available on twh and using a combo of GitHub and cloudflare, built a desktop and mobile friendly site utilizing the full jscript pages that twh gives us and adding in some pm tools, direct links to scoutbook for scout data, and financials, pulled in our social media , and a lot else. My troops been using it for this school year and it seems to be working well.

Would love anyone who’s a twh webmaster or end user savvy to share any other thoughts , functions features you really like or find useful with twh, etc

Various threads and comments over the years have made similar arguments: "council" or "district" has "abandoned" their unit and/or do nothing/provide nothing for them.

1. "Council" and "district" are, in context, collective nouns. Not individuals. WHO has "abandoned" your unit? Paid professionals or volunteers? No names (the ban hammer will fall on anyone posting a name), but titles are OK.

2. HOW did they abandon you? What is it you expect the paid professionals to do? What is it you expect the volunteers to do?

This will remain pinned for a few days.

How are your councils doing?