Commodore’s Corner- December 2016
Does the Sea Scout program have any famous alumni?
We sure do. Here are some examples. Dawn Riley, world famous sailor, and the first woman skipper to participate in the America’s Cup trials. Paul A. Siple, explorer and geographer, a member of Admiral Richard Byrd’s Antarctic expedition. William H. Webster, public servant, who served as FBI Director and as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Jimmy Buffet, singer/songwriter. Of course, Sea Scouts is part of the larger BSA organization and we share in the heritage of other Scouting alumni; like Neil Armstrong, astronaut, first person on the moon–perhaps our most famous “Space” Scout.
With the change earlier this year in the organizational status of Sea Scouts, when is the last day for Sea Scouts to complete Venturing Awards?
Sea Scouts have until December 31, 2016 to complete any Venturing Awards.
What if I don’t finish before December 31st; but I still want to continue to work on a Venturing Award?
You may “dual-register” in a Venturing Crew and continue to work on Venturing Awards. The work you began as a Sea Scout will count toward completing the Venturing Award. Another idea you may want to consider is to have your whole Ship dual-register as a Venturing Crew. Some Ships, particularly those that historically used the Venturing program in the winter months, may want to “dual-register” to retain eligibility for Venturing Awards.
I started working on my next rank in Sea Scouts last spring and I am almost finished. The new Sea Scout Manual that came out this past August has some differences in the requirements. May I still use the old requirements? If yes, is there a deadline?
Congratulations on your progress toward rank advancement. You may use the old requirements until May 31, 2017. After that, you must use the new requirements. The new requirements are included in the new Sea Scout Manual, SKU 620543; and have been posted on SeaScout.org since early 2016.
How do I apply to sail on the Coast Guard Barque EAGLE? What are the selection criteria
The ideal candidate for the Sea Scouts Aboard USCGC EAGLE Program would be a Quartermaster Sea Scout; SEAL graduate; 16 or 17 years old; entering Junior or Senior year of High School in the fall of 2017; have excellent resumes in Scouting, school, and extra-curricular activities; with a strong record of service; and an interest in the Coast Guard or other military or maritime academy. By the way, there’s no such person. We have sent a wide variety of Sea Scouts to this program and not one of them had all, or even most, of these attributes. If you’re interested, apply! Just ask any Sea Scout who has participated in the program, they’ll tell you it’s GREAT! Applications are due March 31, 2017.
Check out the details at: https://seascout.org/news/sail-aboard-the-uscg-eagle/
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What about other applications with deadlines that may be approaching?
National Boatswain, due February 15th:
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Regional and Area applications due March 1 and March 15th respectively.
National Flagship, due March 31st:
SEAL training, due March 31st:
You can submit your question to the Commodore’s Corner at commodorescorner@seascout.org; or click here. We’ll answer the most frequent or urgent questions in a future edition of the Commodore’s Corner.
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