Scouts BSA - Girls Troop

Scouts BSA Girls Troop, this combination of words elicits a number of different reactions. Some are excited for new opportunities, some are opposed to change, some are confused, and some have all sorts of preconceived notions based on assumptions without the slightest understanding what a Scouts BSA Girls Troop is or how it works.

In all cases it is supposed to be an entirely separate single gender unit with their own Scoutmaster and youth leaders. In some cases the committee is shared with a single gender boys unit, in some it's completely separate, or in the case of ours, we have some common members, but two different committees, and a common charter organization. While a pair of units that share an entire committee are called "linked troops", we use the term "semi-linked troops" in our case. These are not mixed gender scouting units, however, the BSA does have those, and has for many years, it's called Venturing and the crews are co-ed youth ages 14-21. Girls in the BSA is not something new, the only new thing is they'll now be able to actually earn the same ranks that the boys have always been able to.

I was a Boy Scout myself, however I never earned Eagle. For all of those that did, congratulations on the accomplishment. For those that have said ridiculous things like it doesn't mean anything anymore because a girl can earn it, you should probably just turn it in anyway. If you can't follow the Scout Law then you probably didn't deserve it. Wait, you know what, maybe it will appear to mean less once the girls start to earn it, because my experience so far is that the girls are doing circles around the boys. They're making things that the boys struggle to do look easy, maybe that's what they're afraid of, that their accomplishment won't be so impressive when the girls show them up? They shouldn't worry though, the girls won't rub their noses in it, after all, they're following that same Scout Oath and Scout Law, and that wouldn't be very scout like...