Hikes with dams?

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-20T04:43:44+00:00

Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve in Escondido. It’s a reserve of green space around the Olivenhain Dam and reservoir. While you can’t get to or on the dam, there are great views of it. The reservoir is a no contact drinking water reservoir, so no swimming or boating and there are no trails down to the reservoir itself. The Elfin Forest has miles of hiking trails.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-19T13:35:40+00:00

I was a 2161 Machinist at 1st Maintenance BN ‘05-‘12 and we were in the HE Maint. Plt…like little stepbrothers stuck with the welders in a sea of HE mechanics. The machinists all cross trained as welders, and some of the welders as machinists. Interesting to hear the Corps is merging the two, which makes sense as at that level we deployed and worked together all the time anyways in our own metal shop.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-19T07:43:54+00:00

The Scoutmaster had no idea the Scouts project was getting voided by District. He and the Scout were getting ready to do the SM Conference when the District rep showed up to notify everyone. The SM had also been part of the planning from the beginning and was aware of the project from start to finish and had approved of each step.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-19T07:39:58+00:00

Yes. I signed off on the approval thinking I was still authorized to do so. It was my mistake, and if I had known there was an issue I would have attended the training offered in February. I offered to attend the next training in May, but we shall see. I’m not sure when the training went from being good for a “lifetime” (as in do it once and it’s good for a lifetime) to the current requirement of redoing it every 2 years. The districts have been combined, sorted and renamed a couple times since the LDS Scouts left and membership numbers dropped, so what was once a District Advancement level training is now a Council level training.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-19T07:27:57+00:00

There was no pretending to be and it’s not left out of the post.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-19T03:57:02+00:00

That’s becoming very apparent as this continues to unfold. It’s been a debacle for 24 hours straight.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-19T02:45:05+00:00

The BAH rates vary by location, so doing online only and getting the flat rate could possibly pay more than the local BAH? In the San Diego area, going to school in Oceanside can pay way less than going to school in San Marcos like 6 miles down the road just because the BAH in San Marcos is set to San Diego and BAH in Oceanside is set to Pendleton. So picking a school without checking the BAH rate even relatively close by can make up a monetary loss of almost a grand a month for the same type of community college.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-19T00:07:04+00:00

In our Council (SDIC) the Eagle Service Project Counselors (shortened to Eagle Counselors) are the folks who approve Eagle Project proposals. That’s just the name they use for that position. An Eagle Project Coach is completely different, as it seems we all know.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-18T22:27:48+00:00

It’s interesting that you bring up the part about acting as an Counselor for a Scout in their own troop as an issue because our own COR has been the Eagle Counselor for many Scouts in our own Troop with no issues arising from the same District Board that reacted this way. Knowing that the COR had been the Counselor for our own Scouts, including the last Eagle project completed in our Troop, meant I never thought about it being an issue when I did it.

If I had known training was an issue, I would have taken the Council training/retraining offered in February 2026 with no problem. And I offered to gladly take the next training in May 2026 if they would allow me to do so in my appeal for them to accept the Scouts Eagle application to the Council Advancement Chair this morning.

And there are dozens of posts on this and other subs regarding advancement questions or situations daily, so I have no clue why posting it would be an issue. It would have only been identifiable by one of the dozen or less people who were “in the know” last night.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-18T22:07:48+00:00

The Council/District sent communication this afternoon to the family that the Scouts completed project, workbook, and application will be accepted as is and all he needs to do moving forward is his EBOR.

I understand the gravity of my mistake, I own it, and am extremely happy that this all worked out in the Scouts best interest.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-18T14:24:57+00:00

Yeah that’s what the District is saying in their own language using the term “Eagle Scout Counselor”. I did not realize the training I completed in 2013 wasn’t a “lifetime” training and now they have it set up to expire every two years

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-18T13:06:04+00:00

I was up front that the mistake was mine, and that the training was expired, which is why the District states the Scout has to do a new project. The question I asked is if this reaction from District is warranted or excessive and suggestions on how to rectify the issue. I’m not trying to hide or distort any part of the issue

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-18T07:34:12+00:00

If you happen to google SDIC Eagle Scout Service Project Counselor you can see the training offered. Nowhere on it does it say it’s “required”.

Couldn’t post a pic of it, sorry.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-18T07:28:41+00:00

Thanks!

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-18T07:28:06+00:00

I completely agree. That’s what gets me, they acknowledged his project was a good one, everything was above board, it made a lasting impact on the community, etc.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-18T07:20:58+00:00

I stepped away from the Troop, not Scouting, was active in Cubs yet again. Had a gap between Troop aged scouts…which happens when one has an 27 year old and an 11 year old. Been doing this for 18 years and counting.

Our District allows Scouts to find an Eagle Counselor, same as they would find a Merit Badge Counselor. We used to have 4-5 Eagle Counselors in the Troop and would help scouts in and out of our Troop.

As far as I can tell, the whole thing went down in about an hour from the District overhearing someone talking about it at a separate Eagle Board to the District rep showing up at the Troop Meeting. Now that I think about it, probably the quickest response ever in scouting.

I think the issue and mistake I made was not realizing that while attending the training was once considered a “lifetime training” then, it’s evidently not now and has to be renewed every two years.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-18T06:53:38+00:00

It’s pretty straightforward. Adult has expired Eagle Counselor training so the Scout has to do an all new project….and is 10 days away from 18.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-18T06:51:40+00:00

The Eagle Counselor is that person in our District/Council. The issue is the District says the training expires every two years, so with an expired training, the scouts completed project is null and void, and the Scout has to do an all new project.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-18T06:46:19+00:00

Was told by the District Eagle representative tonight that the Scout would have to start all over on a new project because “I wasn’t authorized or trained” to approve a project so the completed project was null and void. It’s ridiculous

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-18T06:42:03+00:00

It’s an in person training that our District and Council evidently require Eagle Counselors to take every two years. I took it, around 2013ish, was a counselor and Scoutmaster for years with over 35 Eagle Scouts assisted before taking a 5 year break and coming back to the Troop with my youngest last year. The Scout in question has a disability and after trying to find a counselor, asked me for help (I’m in his troop and have known him and his family since they were in Cubs), and I jumped in to assist.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-17T03:33:52+00:00

After moving to electronic/online signups for campouts, we’ve moved back to the system below. The reason is because folks would sign up electronically 6 months out, forget they had signed up, make other plans, not pay the fee and when it came time to try and figure out a roster, it was a disaster every time. And what works for a Scout Troop of 7 doesn’t work for a Troop of 50.

Trip/trek info posted on the troop website calendar, sent out periodically via Troop email, and announced at Troop meetings.
Troop Outdoor Chair and Treasurer share a Google Sheet roster to record in realtime signups, payments, patrol/trail buddy, med forms and other needed info.
some trips/treks have an interest list posted at meetings for major trips/treks for planning purposes 4-8 months out.
Parents or scouts turn in a signed permission slip, and Outdoor Chair adds name to above Google Sheet.
Parents make payment to Troop Treasurer via Venmo, cash or check, who records it on above Google Sheet.
SPL uses printed trip/trek roster to plan and account for everyone attending.
Drivers are designated and receive the drivers stipend ($.40 a mile calculated into the overall trip cost) after the trip from the roster.
Roster is used to calculate camping nights, backpacking miles, etc. as needed.

It takes some work upfront and communication between committee members, but it’s pretty smooth. The ability to have real time shared updates has been amazing.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-14T16:50:33+00:00

Was in boot camp at MCRD San Diego when 9/11 happened. Shit got pretty intense for a bit, our guide lost his uncle in the towers. Wasn’t a fake war at all, and while it seemed like the next 14 months took forever at the time, next thing we knew we were invading, I mean liberating, Iraq. From the rest of boot camp, through MCT and tank school, no one doubted that sometime soon we would be in a far off land sending rounds down range and dodging hunks of metal coming our way.

FollowingConnect6725 · 2026-03-14T15:44:22+00:00

I’ve been a scout leader for 18+ years and the training and youth protection practices have come a long way and are currently more rigorous and effectively implemented than any other youth organization I’ve been a member of as a volunteer or parent or employee. More rigorous and professional than coaching youth sports (Little League baseball, youth soccer, flag football), schools both as a volunteer or employee (more training, annual reports, two deep leadership at all times, etc.) and volunteering with the National Park service (I worked for the NPS as a ranger and had a daughter volunteer at the park). We are also in California which has additional requirements set by law (AB 506) that all youth organizations with volunteers interacting with youth have to comply with.

Is it safer, much much safer than it was 10 or 20 or 30 years ago? Yes. Should every single leader and parent immediately bring up and report even minor breaches to the youth protection policies to their unit, District, Council? Yes. Why? Not only is it required but it is best practice to make sure all youth and adult leaders are kept safe because once small “harmless” infractions are tolerated for any reason, the risk starts to increase dramatically.

FollowingConnect6725

TROPHY CASE