Gene Berman recently posted the information below to Patch-L regarding collecting Direct Service issues and has agreed to it being reposted here in its entirety.
Take it away Gene,
As Direct Service Editor of the Aid to Collecting “Guide Bookâ€, from time to time I get questions about patches that say “Direct Service†on them. Veteran collectors know all that will follow and probably should hit the “delete†button now. Recently, I received two emails, separately, asking about two patches on Ebay that say “Direct Serviceâ€. I believe the seller, who is selling two New Zealand CSPs is mistaken in his listing, giving him the benefit of lack of knowledge rather than deliberate intent. But to be sure I checked myself and believe these CSPs to be from the New Zealand Scouts and not Direct Service.
Now what is the difference? There are well over 150 different countries and probably much closer to 200 that have their own Boy Scout organizations such as Boy Scouts of Canada or BSJ for Boy Scouts of Japan. These are in no way part of the BSA (Boy Scouts of America) and make a nice collection for those that collect Foreign patches from one or more countries that are part of World Scouting.
In the United States, All Troops, Packs, Venture Crews, etc. belong to a local Council. So, my local council in NYC is Greater New York Councils and if I lived in Los Angeles it would be Los Angeles Area Council or South Florida if I lived in Miami, FL. Some overseas units belong to Councils as well. Troops, packs etc. located in Japan or Taiwan or South Korea, etc. are part of the Far East Council and Units located in Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy, etc. are part of the Transatlantic Council. You have these councils because they serve many units in somewhat of a geographic cluster.
However, the Boy Scouts of America has units made up of Ex-pats and their children scattered all over the world. Often in a Country there may be only one or two units. They are usually connected to an Embassy or large Consulate; or to a school such as the American School of XXXX located in that country; or a commercial enterprise where there are many American families living because they are involved with American Companies working overseas in these various countries. For years these troops, etc. were serviced by a catch all council called “Direct Service Council†which like any local council processed the various rank advancements, Order of the Arrow achievements, recruiting programs, training, camping and on and on. This Direct Service Council was located at National Headquarters in Irving, Tx. A few years ago, they decided to drop the “facade†of calling it a council and now simply refer to it as Direct Service which means that these units now send all their paperwork and receive the same directly from the National Office (ergo Direct Service). Some countries like Aramco in Saudi Arabia which employ many many Americans have multiple troops all over the country and some very small countries that have no American Commercial or Military presence may only have one unit or family of units at their Embassy.
For those that collect Council Shoulder patches (CSPs) there is only one Official official official (emphasis) patch that comes out of National HQ that says Around the World on it. There are two versions, an earlier S1 and the current S2. They are not very difficult to obtain and therefore do not have any great value. However, a challenging and interesting collection is try to collect those CSPs manufactured for use in the individual countries. Years ago there were about 9 or 10 countries that applied to Direct Service and Direct Service made the country patches for them. A few years ago Direct Service did away with this and now requests units that are part of Direct Service to use the “Around the World†patch which many units in countries ignore. In a big Country; i.e. many units like Saudi Arabia some Troops through the years got their Saudi patches from the National office while others ordered them direct from private mfg. as they paid less and got delivery in a more timely manner. Even in a small country, some units, the same units, may have ordered one time from the National Office and when they ran out ordered privately or vice versa. Today since National is not making country patches they all have to be privately ordered.
Because many of these patches were ordered in relatively small quantities, and the Direct Service collection is popular, the cost of obtaining these patches either in trade or purchase can get quite “priceyâ€. Enter the “misleaders†and fakers. Someone created for example a “Direct Service/Alabama which makes no sense since all Alabama units are served by local councils. People have faked patches either as counterfeits or creating their own country patches with Direct Service on them. And sometimes you find foreign Scout Organization patches such as the two New Zealand patches currently listed that mistakenly or otherwise say Direct Service in the listing (not on the patch). So to be clear: Direct Service Units are American Units with American Expats living abroad, generally composed of the dependents of these Expats. These units sometimes take in local youth but they are American sponsored and American Run. Foreign Countries usually have their own Scout Organizations which have nothing to do with the BSA (Boy scouts of America).
Lastly, to try to create some order and logic for those that have fun collecting Direct Service the editorial board of the CSP Guide book came up with some guidelines to help you decide what you want to collect.
As you can imagine trying to validate many of these patches is an arduous task. Therefore, if new evidence surfaces that dictates a patch listed as official should be moved to Unofficial or vice versa these listings also make for flexibility. Lead Author of the Guide, Steve Austin, tells me that a “Y†category, similar to the Blue Book “OA†“Y†category will be coming soon. This will help separate those items of unknown provenance which is the purpose of the “Y†meaning more information needed, from those we know to be blatant fakes.
From the Big Apple
Gene Berman
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“To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.” –Thomas Jefferson
