Uniform Police

You could say I used be part of the Scout Uniform Police, but not any more. I pick my battles; patches sewn on wrong are not worth the hit to a persons self esteem, nor are some of the nit-picky rules that have come into common practice or Scouting Tradition worth the trouble.

Some of the rules are hold-overs from the military, and have little place in boy Scouting. For instance the “Metal on Metal” rule for how the belt is worn or military creases. Nothing is found in the current uniform inspection sheet about either. It only states that an official belt be worn, leather or woven, not that it needs to be fitted to military standard and that the member be “neatly dressed.”

            The rule that a World Crest Emblem must be worn is also wrong; it may be worn by all members of Scouting to symbolize their membership in the World Scouting movement, but is not required. Those “100 Anniversary” rings are nice, and a good way to get members of the movement to wear the crest, but they often make the uniform cluttered and limit the number of knots that can worn.

Hardly anyone wears Service stars any more. They can be worn by all youth and adult members who have at least one year of tenure with the Boy Scouts of America. Other than the stars are to worn with the appropriate color background there are few rules for their wear. Members can wear them for their separate primary registrations simultaneously. Or, leaders may combine youth and adult tenure into one or two stars with blue backgrounds.

In my option, a true blue Uniform Inspection should be only done once a year, during the Charter renewal and membership inventory, as required by BSA. We did ours during the Blue and Gold Dinner. Once a year, is enough of being singled out and checked for everything present, in place, and worn neatly. At other times we did a simple “Who has the Best Uniform” competition, which do not demean the scout or parent for wrong placement. These would be spontaneous, with every boy getting a small candy bar and the winner getting a big one. This was all that was needed to ensure that all boys can have a complete uniform.