G2SS & GTA

[Quailman]

I reported an incident in the EBOR thread involving my outgoing advancement chair where she indicated ignorance of basic information in the Guide to Advancement. In preparing for a shooting outing last weekend, my SM indicated a lack of awareness of the guidelines for rifle and shotgun as spelled out in the Guide to Safe Scouting.

I am considering asking all registered leaders in our troop to sign a statement that they have read and agree to follow the GTA and G2SS. Does this seem reasonable, or should I just expect trained leaders to know that stuff?

[JH-SM-T03]

considering that the advancement guide relatively recently underwent significant changes and the guide to safe scouting seems to change monthly if not more often, maybe they just need a new copy or the link to the online versions.

It is getting harder for anyone to keep up.

Give them the benefit of the doubt.

[Quailman]

The AC told me that the Eagle candidate selects the members of his EBOR. The SM thought it was okay to go to a shooting range and tell the shooting range staff that our leaders would handle it, but we have only one NRA-trained adult. Neither of those points have changed recently.

[smtroop168]

Is this a blatant disregard for the policies and procedures or an ignorance due to not reading the materials?

Both of these have a safety valve. For the AC it's the DAC. Since your council has a DAC or CAC member sitting on the EBOR board, they should be able to help with this.

For the AC the following ref GTA applies: Know and understand the advancement procedures
for the program served, especially those applicable to Eagle Scout and Quartermaster candidates. This would include reading the GTA.

For the Shooting and G2SS, your web site says:

All volunteers participating in official Scouting activities should become familiar with the Guide to Safe Scouting. Unit leaders should be aware of state and local government regulations that supersede Boy Scouts of America policies and guidelines.

Your unit is also required to have a Tour Plan so if the council doesn't see the needed trained shooting folks, then it should not get approved.

I also can't imagine a shooting range..I'm assuming its a commercial one...to let the unit "handle it"...Their laywers heads would be spinning.

SOOO...to answer your question, should you have them sign a statement...sure why not. The G2SS already has that statement. I guess we didn't think it was as necessary for the GTA.

[Quailman]

I already handled the AC. I knew she was not up to par, so I made a condition of accepting the job that the COR or outgoing CC would remove her. She is supposed to be "transitioning" her replacement and will be gone as of our first CoH (mid March). The SM has a long track record of doing things his way without regard for BSA policies.

I'm not sure about the shooting range misunderstanding. The person who had been handling our tour plans has not been available since our last camping trip. Having just taken over Jan. 9, I did not know until the last minute that we did not have one (the SM said at the first meeting that we didn't need one since we were staying in-council). It was when I asked about the coverage (our adult/leader list only showed one NRA-certified person), the SM told me an ASM was the liaison with the shooting range. Not being able to reach him, I contacted the range and the range manager said our troop told him we would handle the RSO and Instructors. I asked if he would serve as the RSO and have at least one other certified staff member help and it got straightened out, but I shouldn't have had to make that phone call.

[wagionvigil]

I already handled the AC. I knew she was not up to par, so I made a condition of accepting the job that the COR or outgoing CC would remove her. She is supposed to be "transitioning" her replacement and will be gone as of our first CoH (mid March). The SM has a long track record of doing things his way without regard for BSA policies.

I'm not sure about the shooting range misunderstanding. The person who had been handling our tour plans has not been available since our last camping trip. Having just taken over Jan. 9, I did not know until the last minute that we did not have one (the SM said at the first meeting that we didn't need one since we were staying in-council). It was when I asked about the coverage (our adult/leader list only showed one NRA-certified person), the SM told me an ASM was the liaison with the shooting range. Not being able to reach him, I contacted the range and the range manager said our troop told him we would handle the RSO and Instructors. I asked if he would serve as the RSO and have at least one other certified staff member help and it got straightened out, but I shouldn't have had to make that phone call.

Shooting sports,Climbing rappelling, Aquatics Are Required to have a Tour Plan Regardless.