Navigating BSA Policies & Procedures 1: The Merit Badge Blue Card

For our first discussion in the series "Navigating BSA Policies & Procedures" I've decided to tackle a crucial yet incredibly simple piece of card stock that all Scouts at some point in their Scouting career will come in contact with: the BSA Merit Badge Blue Card.

Merit badges are an important part of the Scouts' BSA career. Twenty-one merit badges must be earned in order to obtain the rank of Eagle Scout - eleven of which are required for the rank. As early as the rank of Star, merit badges are needed in order to advance to Life as well as Eagle. Summer camp in itself is dedicated to a week of earning merit badges that would otherwise be difficult to earn at home with a counselor or a meeting with your troop.

So where do you begin? Obviously, the first step is to decide which of the over 130 merit badges available to Scouts you wish to pursue. Everything from Swimming to Rocketry has a merit badge, and while earning a merit badge will not make you an expert on a subject, it will open your mind to something that you didn't think you wanted to know about before. It may even take you out of your comfort zone, and in some rare cases, it you may find yourself pursuing a career in something you got a taste of in a merit badge class.

Once you've determined which of the myriad of merit badges you wish to earn, your next step is approaching your Scoutmaster and asking for the item pictured above: a Blue Card. The blue card is called so for the obvious fact that it is blue, and it is much easier to say than "Application for Merit Badge" - but that is exactly what it is. This little card has three sections to it, printed on both sides, and it provides a record for the merit badge counselor, your troop, and your council. Despite everything being recorded electronically these days, you as a Scout are still required to bring all your blue cards to your Eagle Board of Review. You won't have what you see above - by the time everything is said and done, you will have a third (about the size of a baseball card) of the card above.

Let's break down the card:

• Upper left section: This section is just a few instructions for both the counselor and the applicant. There is nothing that really needs to be discussed about this section, but if you wish to take a closer look, read it off the actual blue card.

• Upper center section: This grid is for writing down the numbers of the requirements for the merit badge you are going for. The grid (which is turned 90 degrees counter-clockwise in this image) has three columns - the first for the number and/or letter of the requirement (i.e. 2, 3a, 3b, 4, etc.), the second is for the date which the requirement was completed, and the third is for the counselor's initials. (The other three columns are a repeat of the first three, as some merit badges have many numbers and letters for their requirements). As a show of respect for the counselor, Troop 101 requires our Scouts to fill in all the requirement numbers and letters in the first column.

• Upper right section: This section is essentially the basic info for any Scout. It asks for his name & address, if he is a Boy Scout, Varsity Scout or Venturer, his troop or crew, the troop number, district and council. The Scoutmaster then signs the bottom of this section and dates it, to indicate to the merit badge counselor that he has approved of this Scout earning this merit badge. There are cases where a Scout would not be able to earn a merit badge - for instance, in NY state where our summer camp is located, a youth is not allowed to shoot a rifle or shotgun until a certain age. If the Scoutmaster has signed the card on this section, he is indicating that this Scout is eligible to earn this merit badge.

• Lower left section: This is the reverse of the upper right panel. This section indicates to the Scout's council what merit badge he earned, the name of the counselor, where the badge was earned, and the signature of the counselor upon completion. The lower part is filled out once the troop has recorded it in the database, and the merit badge has been presented. Then this section is handed in to council and is placed in their records. If there is ever a question about the earning of a merit badge, there is always a copy at council.

• Lower center section: This section is initially filled out by the Scout with his name and the name of the merit badge. Once the badge is complete, the counselor signs and dates the card, and once that is completed, the Scoutmaster signs the card as well. If for some reason the Scoutmaster feels that the Scout did not truly "earn" the merit badge, the Scoutmaster has the option of not signing, indicating that either there was some trickery afoot, and he needs to investigate, and/or he can make the Scout re-take the merit badge. (As of this writing, I have yet to see a Scoutmaster do this. I have however seen a Scout ask that the Scoutmaster not sign, as the Scout felt that he did not earn the badge.) Once this section is completed, it is handed back to the Scout with the merit badge at a Court of Honor for his records.

• Lower right section: This section is to be filled out by the Scout with his name, unit and unit number. Once the merit badge is completed, the counselor will date the card, and then (s)he will keep the card for their records. So, when a Scout earns the merit badge, the card should already be 1/3 smaller.

In the image above, everything highlighted in yellow is the responsibility of the Scout to fill out before getting it signed by the Scoutmaster. What is not filled out in the image is the requirements grid. In T101, I check each card before I sign it to make sure that it is properly filled out. If something is missing, I hand it and a pen right back to the Scout. Once its filled out to my satisfaction (i.e. properly) I'll sign the front section, and then I give it to the Scout.

At this point, the Scout has to bring the card to the counselor, who will (or should) hold on to it until the boy completes the merit badge. Once the all the requirements have been completed to the satisfaction of the counselor, (s)he'll sign off and send the two sections back with the Scout to hand over to the Scoutmaster. I'll then sign, and hand it over to our records keeper, who will log the merit badge with council, get all the necessary paperwork in order and purchase the actual merit badge. At the next Court of Honor the Scout will receive his portion of the blue card and the merit badge itself.

As happens every so often, a Scout will get back a full blue card with some of the requirements initialed and dated in the grid. This is what we call a "partial" meaning that the Scout only finished some of the merit badge, and will either have to return to summer camp, or find a counselor to help them finish. Some merit badges - like shotgun - require the Scout to shoot so many targets out of so many targets. Sometimes, he doesn't hit enough, or the weather is too foul at camp to complete the badge. These thing happen.

In the cases of partials from summer camp, I hold on to the blue card itself (in order to make sure they aren't lost over the winter) and will bring it back for the Scout to complete the following year. If the Scout wishes to finish sooner than later, I can provide him with a list of counselors around his home for him to contact to see if they are available to finish. Even if he wishes to earn one that is not a partial, I'll provide him with a list of counselors in the area.

Can a Scout start a merit badge before filling out the blue card? That depends on the counselor. Some are real sticklers for the rules, and BSA policy does say that the Scout needs to arrive with the blue card in hand. Many though won't care either way, as the boy can't earn the badge without the proper application signed and filled out. While you would be wasting the time of the counselor, the only person being really hurt by not getting a blue card for a merit badge is the Scout himself - no record in the council database, then as far as everyone is concerned, the merit badge was never earned.

Pretty much that is the blue card in a nutshell. Whether you want to earn another merit badge, or whether you need to complete one from 2 years ago, see your Scoutmaster and ask for a blue card and a list of phone numbers. Merit badges are not earned only at summer camp - anyone looking to go all the way to Eagle should be earning merit badges all year long.

The blue card is the first step.

Let's Try Something New for 2015

Since I am currently between jobs (something that seems to plague many in the country these days) I've been sitting here contemplating how to improve the way things are with Troop 101; more specifically, how this blog could help current members, future members and their families. 

Since this blog was started, it has pretty much been about what we we've been doing as a troop; meetings, events and camping trips. I plan to continue keeping everyone up-to-date on that front - it is the backbone of everything we do after all. However, if you are regular reader, you'll notice that many of our trips come back around every year, and unless something really off-the-wall happens, its pretty much the same trip. So, in the spirit of making a new and helpful blog, I plan to start writing a few series of posts that I'll label so that they can be referenced at any time.

1. Troop Calendar Updates: This will be the posts related to what we've been doing. Hopefully I can keep this up-to-date.

2. Gear & Gadgets: This is a series where I will be discussing the pros and cons of various equipment that we use in the troop, as well as what you should be using as a Scout (or looking for for your Scout). Hopefully it will be pretty in depth on various topics, like sleeping bags, foot wear, flashlights, etc., etc.

3. Navigating BSA Policies & Procedures: This is where I'll be talking about various policies and procedures that the BSA uses to help your Scout on his path to Eagle. Items like uniforms, paperwork, merit badges and rank advancement will fall into this series.

4. Troop 101 Tips & Tricks: Okay, this may not exactly be tips & tricks, but it will cover how T101 handles certain items, such as purchasing food for a camping trip, or summer camp procedures.

5. Our History: I am an amateur student of history. It was one of the few non-art related classes that I took in high school that I was really good at. I've discovered this year marks quite a few key milestones in America history, and since many of the hikes we go on are history related, I felt it was a good idea to occasionally remember where we came from - and possibly where we are going. 

So, with that said, I hope to have a much more well rounded blog. Hopefully most of what I write about will help out in the long run. So keep an eye out for new posts as I intend to do them on a weekly basis - and if they going longer than that, I pray that it won't be a year.

Tempus Fugit

Once again, I find myself stunned by the fact that I am completely incapable of keeping this blog up-to-date. Previously, I've missed a few weeks or months, and here I am realizing that I have missed pretty much an entire calendar year. That's pretty bad, even for me.

Happily, my job as scoutmaster does not require me to keep the blog up-to-date. If it did, I obviously would not be writing this blog entry, or for that matter, any blog entry here. So, let me start by saying that yes, we are all still here and Scouting on. Obviously, our lives did not stop just because the blog did - we have done so much since the last posting about the 2013 Asbury Park Zombie Walk.

To begin, in the past year, we've picked up two new Scouts. One is the younger brother of a Scout that joined us when their troop folded (as troops sadly sometimes tend to do), and the other, is the second of possibly four brothers that will be joining the troop over the next decade or so. Both are doing quite well with their rank advancement and learning how to be a Troop 101 Boy Scout. Our other boys are doing well - our eldest at 17 made Life Rank and is currently working his way to an Eagle Scout project and - hopefully - his Eagle Scout rank. We have four Scouts working their way through the middle ranks, and hopefully by June of 2015 they will all have made the rank of 1st Class, and be ready to start working on their Star Ranks at summer camp.

Our 3 youngest are moving along quite well through the early ranks, all of whom show great potential in rocketing up through the middle ranks rather quickly. For the one set of brothers, it sets quite the fire under the older one when he realizes that his younger brother could easily out rank him at some point. Also on the horizon is another crossover from the Cub Pack coming this spring - and he has quite the legacy to live up to. His great-grandfather was Scoutmaster, his grandfather was Scoutmaster and his father is Cub Master as well as an Eagle from 101 - obviously there is no pressure there what-so-ever.

As for me, things have been busy on a personal level.

For those who have no idea what a Scoutmaster does, let me say that running a troop is like having a part time job. Despite what anyone at Council may say, my job is not "one hour a week, one weekend a month, and one week a year". (This is part of the reason this blog is almost never up-to-date - of all the things I need to do, this is not high on the priority list.) Summer camp alone - while the actual event is only a week - takes months of prodding to make sure that merit badges are signed up for, medical forms are filled out, everyone is paid up, and for me to pack all that we need, it takes at least 3 weeks of running around!

On top of all this, I work full time. Happily while at work, I have downtime enough that I can answer emails and help set up events for the troop during the week. (What I can't do is stop and write a blog entry though). The miracle of modern technology (and a Scoutmaster willing to use it) allows me to answer questions almost instantly when they come up. The week before a campout I have to make sure everyone is notified that we are going, if we their Scout needs any special equipment, get a head count, and make sure that the person buying food for the weekend gets everything we need. The last thing I want is a Scout to go hungry. I am always the last to eat, which means if we are low on food, I go the weekend without - but frankly, I could afford to miss a few meals.

Finally, I am married and my wife and I are expecting our first - soon. Like, "I'm-expecting-a-phone-call-any-minute-soon". So my spare time has been spent getting the nursery ready, and basically preparing for my life to be completely turned upside down.

As you can imagine, a blog is least of my worries.

The only reason I am writing today is because its snowing out, and I have to do some work in my garage for the baby - and since I have no heat and spray paint won't spray correctly in cold weather, I find myself at a stopping point for the moment.

Which segues into the reason I wanted to write a blog today. We live in New Jersey, and our winters can be "hit or miss". Sometimes we get monster storms, sometimes you can ski all winter in a t-shirt. Its just the nature of our area - or global warming. However you want to look at it.

When it does snow, I like to encourage our Scouts to go out and not only help their family clear the snow, but also friends and neighbors. Sometimes we forget how quickly things change over the course of the year, and we forget that what was routine last winter is an impossibility this year.

The reason I bring this up is because just this past weekend I had this exact issue happen to me.

My parents moved into their current home in 1985. They have been living in this home for 30 years, and for 30 years their driveway has been a nightmare to clear of snow. Their house is located on the side of a hill - or mountain depending on how you look at it. If I had to guess, from the back of the property to the front sidewalk/street there is probably about a 10-15 foot change in elevation. At the center of this elevation change is their house - a split level built probably sometime in the 60's. While the font entry and the rear entry of the lower floor is the same level - meaning that the house isn't built into the side of the hill - the driveway slants down to the street, thus creating the nightmare.

I don't know the actual degree of angle for the drive, but we were taught as soon as we got our licenses that you set the parking brake when you pull in. (A good rule of thumb - never park on a hill and expect the gear shift pin on your transmission to hold the weight of your car from rolling away - always set the parking brake.) If your car door had a weak spring, there was enough of an angle to close the door on you - and I took a few to the head over the years.

Over the years we went through winter after winter - and for the most part they were mild. Sure, there were a few that were really bad - one I even used snow shoes to get to friends' houses - but our little Sears snowblower managed to do the trick; if the snow was deep enough. That stupid little thing needed at least 2" of snow to work, and even after you were done, you had to go back and really clean it down to the asphalt if you didn't want ice to form. Eventually, the little guy started showing his age, and dad went and got a big gas powered monster. (Oddly enough, this was about the time I went off to college for 4 years. Up to that point I was doing the bulk of the shoveling when I could manage (dad could get pretty sneaky shoveling at 4am)).

The monster served him well. Even when I got back from college, I would use it to clear the drive so dad didn't have to. We would even load it up and drive over to my grandmother's and do her driveway. It was a beast to get on the truck, but it was self-propelled and could eat snow 2' deep like it was nothing.

As I and my sister grew up, we eventually moved out - as children tend to do. Things were fine up until last winter - my grandmother had fallen ill, and my mother had tumbled down some stairs and broken one ankle and sprained the other - while on vacation in Russia. Between going to the hospital for my grandmother and rehab for my mother and working two part-time jobs, the stress began to take its toll on dad. Eventually, my mother began walking under her own power - though she hasn't fully recovered - and sadly, by February my grandmother passed. It was at that point dad, as eldest child and executor of the will, had to now deal with even more stress of the sale of my grandmother's house, distribution of assets, etc., etc. (Even as I write this, the house has still not sold.)

By this point, summer was here and things were moving ahead as life usually does. My wife and I had broken the good news about the baby, and life just... went. Then fall came and dad started having trouble with his health. He was in the hospital a few times, and now wears a monitoring vest for his heart. Mom is still not walking correctly, and my sister is still living in Florida. I do live closer, but not close enough to drop by whenever.

Then the weather report came for this snow storm - a possibility of 2'.

...and just like that, you realize that even with a self-powered snow blower, your parents are going to be snowed in. You also realize that there are probably other things that they may no longer be able to do. My parents aren't 88 like my grandmother was - they are only in their 60s - but sometimes life throws a curve ball.

Happily, arrangements have been made for someone to come and dig them out.

So where am I going with this long tale? I know my Scouts go out and help those whom they perceive as "elderly" with snow removal - as they should. What I am getting at is check in with those who aren't so "elderly". Many people pass as a result of a heart attack or over exerting themselves while shoveling snow...

...and they aren't all that elderly.

So, don't just check in with the 80+ crowd this winter, check in on everyone you know - even if they declined help last year, they may just need it this year (even the young ones expecting a baby could always use a second set of hands :)