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“This process takes 12 months to complete. In addition, the book was reviewed by BSA’s editorial board and a representative from OHSA for a final safety review,” Landon said. We had to reduce the final draft we submitted to them by almost 30 percent. “As the chair of the committee, I directly worked with the BSA’s editors on the final edit of the merit badge book. Both organizations worked together to write the merit badge pamphlet, add photos and illustrations, and then publish it. If the initial idea meets all of these requirements, then the Merit Badge Task Force along with the Program Content Committee officially approve the merit badge concept.Īfter the welding merit badge passed both the Merit Badge Task Force and the Program Content Committee, BSA contacted AWS and told them that they wanted to move forward.

They also determine the idea’s level of safety, its age appropriateness, and its level of fun, among other requirements. In addition, they look at the cost of developing the idea into a merit badge, as well as the cost of participation for each Scout and their unit. They evaluate the idea to determine if it fits in with Scouting’s values and goals. If the demand is high, then they look at other factors that specifically relate to Scouting. The organization evaluates the community’s demand for the idea. If the survey’s results are positive, then the idea is researched and evaluated. If the majority shows very little or no level of interest, then the idea is rejected,” Downey said. If the majority of the participants who took the survey like the idea, then we will continue to develop it as a merit badge. “Once a merit badge idea is submitted to us for review, we conduct a youth interest survey to see what the scouts think about it if it were a merit badge. Then, the committee addressed the draft’s final comments, and submitted the final draft of the merit badge book to the BSA’s national headquarters for approval in 2009. Once the written draft was completed, pictures were added. The draft was then revised and circulated through the committee for further comment,” Landon said. Once the first draft was compiled, it was circulated through the committee for comment. In the development process, we followed the rules of operation that AWS technical committees use for voting on standards. We wrote the merit badge requirements and each member of the committee was assigned a chapter to write and develop. “As a committee, we decided to develop a “draft” of the welding merit badge book. The merit badges that were approved for development in previous years are created before we consider creating any new ones,” Janice Downey, the Boy Scouts of America’s Senior Innovation Manager, said.Įven though Landon didn’t hear back from the Boy Scouts of America’s national headquarters right away, he proceeded to create the welding merit badge content as if he had. Once a new merit badge is approved, it is put on the development list in the order it gets approved. “We get about 100 merit badge ideas a year and only a select few of them are actually created into merit badges. In my letter, I explained the need for welders and welding professionals in the country and the role of AWS”, Landon said.ĭespite his best efforts, Landon didn’t receive a response from the Boy Scouts of America until 2011. “I submitted a letter of intent to the BSA headquarters, explaining my role with AWS and the desire to create a merit badge for welding.

#COMPTON FIRE BADGE HOW TO#

He started to conduct a lot of research on merit badges, and looked to his local scouting executive in Iowa for advice on how to create a new one. In 2008, the head of the standards committee, David Landon, was asked to step up as the committee’s new chairman. Shortly after that suggestion was made, a special committee was established to create the merit badge. Compton was a scouter and had two grandsons already involved in the scouting program. In 2007, the chairman of the AWS San Fernando Valley Section, Jack Compton, suggested working with the Boy Scouts of America to come up with a welding merit badge to interest kids in the field. The plan needed to give kids a hands-on experience that would teach them about the basics of welding and would also encourage them to explore the vast number of career paths that the welding profession has to offer.

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The American Welding Society’s Professional Development Council needed to come up with a sure fire plan that would get America’s youth hooked on welding. The American Welding Society teamed up with the Boy Scouts of America to give scouts a welding experience that they would never forget.

Compton fire badge