Chief Scout Executive Answers Arrowmen's Questions

Early Sunday morning in the Kellogg Center Hotel & Conference Auditorium, Chief Scout Executive Roy L. Williams took time to talk to some OA members and share some stories about his Scouting experiences and the Scouting program.

The interview started with a question about how he got interested in Scouting. He said that when he was a kid he was very ambitious and liked to participate in all of the Scouting events of his troop. He was in a Scout outreach troop sponsored by an auto body shop, and noted, “If you had a shirt, you were in uniform.” As he grew older he moved away from the Scouting program, eventually going into the Air Force during the Vietnam War for four years and then going to college on the GI bill. He got back into Scouting through job placement after college and saw it as a great job because he could get paid to be a part of Scouting.  Mr. Williams noted, “I could have my cake and eat it too.”  Since then he has advanced through many Scouting professional positions and eventually was promoted to his current position of Chief Scout Executive.

Mr. Williams was questioned on many different topics from jobs he had held to tougher issues facing the Boy Scouts. One member asked, “What are some of the biggest issues facing the Scouting movement and how can the OA help them?”  Mr. Williams said that one of the main issues is "trying to continue to find people who will go out and care for one another and will get involved in this program."  He then expounded on the fact that we must continually seek out leaders to help facilitate the growth and focus of our Scouts.

Another member inquired about the legal battles faced by the Boy Scouts of America to change some of its conservative values-based foundations.  Mr. Williams responded that the BSA is one of the last organizations which still promotes family values and duty to God and country, and even though the BSA supports religion, it does not force it upon its members.  He went on to say that there is “no movement in the BSA to change our values.”

One member asked what it meant to be chartered by Congress and what it really meant.  Mr. Williams said that being chartered by Congress today really is more of an honorary status.  There are no specific obligations or pressures as a result of being chartered by Congress but it does mean that Congress recognizes the overall value of the organization to the United States.

One of Mr. Williams' closing comments addressed a general feeling of some that the youth of today have changed for the worse. He responded by stating,  “today, young people are as fine as young people in any time,” and that adults just need to do the best to “help them grow.”