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Notes -
I was a scout in the middle of the transition to 'general early step on the cursus honorum for highborn youths'. Eagle scout rates, across all of the BSA, had just reached 6%. We had orienteering, ten mile hikes, backpacking trips were optional. I didn't get my eagle but eagle projects were invariably minor construction projects for sympathetic sounding but not hard case institutions- think 'put in a new flowerbed at the nursing home'. There were dads at the campouts, but they were in their own section, watching from afar. We had our own campfire, cooked our own food, were basically unsupervised. The older boys(teens) ran the program for the tweens. I liked that part, but the advanced ranks seemed like BS paperwork to burnish a resume.
Now don't get me wrong, I did learn some cool stuff, like orienteering, firebuilding, whittling safety, etc. We had .22 rifles for marksmanship, no archery. They ran some cool merit badge programs- pioneering and horsemanship in particular were some things I probably wouldn't have otherwise learned. But you're basically right.
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