Scouting, Volume 26, Number 1, January 1938 Page: 19
34, [2] p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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a
Training Your Patrol
.
WHENEVER I open my
mouth I put my foot in it
For example, the other day,
I let a remark slip to the effect that
"What this country needs is a simple
training course that Scoutmasters can
put on with their Patrol Leaders."
The words hardly escaped my lips
before I was rudely interrupted: "All
right! You go ahead and make it up,
and we'll run it in SCOUTING "
That's my story, and I'm stuck with
it. So I might as well try to make
the most of it.
Why Patrol Leaders' Training?
Fortunately, everybody has
now accepted the oft-stated fact
that "The Patrol Method is not
ONE method in which Scouting can
be carried on. It is the ONLY
method" As certain as a boy is not a
Scout unless he follows the Scout
Law, just as certain a group of boys
is not a Scout Troop unless it is
based squarely upon the Patrol
Method, with small, permanent
groups of boys working together
under the responsible leadership of
one of their number — the Patrol
Leader
The greatest job of the Scout-
master is to make this leadership
successful. No other person should.
No other person can
And the way to do it is to provide
the Patrol Leaders with training in
the running of their Patrols, by turn-
ing the Troop Leaders' Council into
a training Patrol which will carry
out the features of the normal Patrol,
JANUARY, 1938
under the Scoutmaster as the Patrol
Leader
As made clear in the new Hand-
book for Scoutmasters, the Troop
Leaders' Council has two functions
(1) It is the managing body of
the Troop, and
(2) It is the training ground
of the Patrol Leaders.
The first point is discussed in detail
in the Handbook and depends to a
great extent on the special activities
and problems arising in the individual
Troop. The second point, on the
other hand, can be more or less pro-
grammed so that a certain number
of meetings and out-door activities
will cover the important points of
Patrol Leadership. And that is what
we are going to attempt in a series
of six monthly articles.
The plan is for you to gather with
your Patrol Leaders and Assistant
Patrol Leaders and the other officers
of the Troop, for one meeting a
month for six months, and for one
hike and one short-term camp, and
during those periods cover the items
involved in Patrol Leadership so that
the boy leaders will receive program
material and suggestions for proced-
ure that may make their leadership
effective.
Planning the First Meeting
It is, of course, impossible to print
all of the program material for your
training meetings in SCOUTING
Fortunately, we don't have to. The
main text as far as you are concerned
BOYS' LIFE builds better Scouts
Leaders
With
Green Bar Bill
is the Handbook for Scoutmasters
Each Patrol Leader is expected to
have the Handbook for Patrol
Leaders, and each participant will
need the current issue of BOYS'
LIFE for additional material.
It is recommended, that you plan
your first meeting for an evening
toward the end of January, and plan
following meetings also for the last
week of each month. This will give
you time to make necessary prepara-
tions, get together material and as-
sign reading.
Immediately following your next
Troop Meeting, meet with the boy
leaders who are to take part in the
training — Patrol Leaders and As-
sistant Patrol Leaders. Announce the
time and place, make the suggested
reading assignments and give the
Senior Patrol Leader or a Junior
Assistant Scoutmaster the job of
gathering needed equipment.
Beyond that, don't make further
preparations. Just have the material
at hand and the program before you.
And remember in everything you do
at these meetings, that the reason
for having them is to provide the boy
leader with material he can take home
and apply in his own Patrol. So
think in terms of the Patrol at all
stages of the game.
FIRST TRAINING MEETING
Preliminary Reading
Assignments:
For Scoutmaster and adult leaders
Handbook for Scoutmasters
Part IV (specifically Chat 13)
For Patrol Leaders Handbook for
Patrol Leaders Chapters 2 and
4, BOYS' LIFE, Green Bar
Bill, January and February
Needed Material:
Paper and pencils.
Copy of Patrol Record Book
(Continued on page 30)
Page Nineteen
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 26, Number 1, January 1938, periodical, January 1938; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth313034/m1/19/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.