Issue 586 – February 12, 2019

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Dear Andy,

I’m a former Boy Scout (Life rank) who got back into Scouting with my oldest son seven years ago. When he graduated from his Cub Scout pack three years ago, I allowed him to pick the troop of his choice, even though I knew it was poorly run—and still is—but that was his choice.

Turns out I’m now about to become Scoutmaster. I’ve been reading your column for years and taken training at every opportunity, and read a ton of BSA guidebooks and handbooks, but I still have a couple of interrelated questions I couldn’t find answers to, so here goes…

The Troop Leader Guidebook (Chapter 2, “The Scouts”) indicates that small troops may not be large enough to divide into patrols. So, how many Scouts does a troop need, to form more than one effective patrol?

After several “age-out” in a few months, our troop will have eight remaining Scouts. I know that, with this number, your standard answer would be to have a patrol of three, a patrol of four, and a Senior Patrol Leader, leaving room for further recruitment by the eight Scouts. But here, two current Scouts were already recruited by two others in the troop, with the common denominator that they all went to the same grammar schoolK-8 school together. As for the remaining four Scouts, they each go to a different school, each one some 25 miles from here. So, all-in-all, I don’t foresee much additional recruitment possible.

So, if we do decide to organize our troop into a single patrol, what would the “organizational structure” look like? Would it be Senior Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader, Scribe, and five Scouts? Or Patrol Leader, Assistant Patrol Leader, and six Scouts? Or something else? (David, incoming SM, Sam Houston Area Council, TX)

One patrol can operate by itself, but there’s no such thing as a “troop” until there are at least two patrols. Multiple patrols make up a troop; without patrols, there’s simply no troop! This is why Scouting is based on The Patrol Method and not “the troop method.”

If you have a single patrol, you have no Senior Patrol Leader; you have one Patrol Leader, elected by his own patrol members. Then there’s a PL-chosen Assistant Patrol Leader, patrol scribe, patrol quartermaster, patrol grubmaster, and so forth. You also have no troop.

If you want to deliver Scouting as it’s designed to be, then you absolutely must use The Patrol Method, and this demands at least two patrols.

So my recommendation is obvious: There must be at least two patrols for there to be a troop. So, as you predicted, the Senior Patrol Leader is elected by all, and then the remaining Scouts are asked to divide themselves into two groups—one of three and one of four Scouts apiece, with no stragglers. (Yes, the Scouts themselves do this; they’re never “assigned” by anyone except themselves!)

The troop now grows by being a *magnet* for the Scouts’ friends who’d like to be part of the adventure and fun! (Besides, one of the requirements for First Class focuses on exactly that!)
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Hi Andy,

My son has just recently finished up his first full year as a Boy Scout, and is a First Class Scout (about to be Star rank). Back when he crossed over and into the troop, he was assigned to a “temporary patrol,” whose “leader” was a Troop Guide. A while later, after his first months in the troop followed by summer camp, he was placed in a permanent patrol. Now, the Scoutmaster and his assistants want to re-shuffle the patrols again.

The troop’s committee members thinks this is a bad idea, and suggested that the Scouts who are in “strong” patrols move to the “weaker” patrols, so the patrols are “leveled,” and that doing this will provide more opportunities for Scouts’ leadership experiences.

This was tried once before, and the Scouts were asked to pick what patrol they’d like to go to, but none of them budged, so I’m told. Now, the Scoutmaster is considering putting all Scouts’ names in a proverbial “hat” and assigning them to patrols as their names are drawn.

We could use some insights on how—or even whether—to shuffle Scouts into different patrols. Help! (Name & Council Withheld)

Nobody—NOBODY!—has the “authority” to shuffle patrols. This has been in every Scoutmaster/Troop Leader training course, handbook, and guidebook for decades.

Moreover, the patrol is the essential unit of Scouting… not the troop! The troop is merely the “umbrella” under which patrols operate. Although a boy registers with the troop, this is for paperwork and administrative convenience. He actually joins a patrol, and that patrol—along with other patrols operating collaboratively—form a troop. Patrols can function just fine without a troop, but there’s no such thing as a troop unless it’s comprised of patrols. This is why The Patrol Method is called just that, and why there’s no such thing as “the troop method.”

It doesn’t take a genius to know that boys can and will form natural groups (we used to call them “sidewalk gangs” till “gangs” as a word got a bad rap) and will even select their own natural leader—all by themselves if we adults just leave ’em alone to do what they’re entirely capable of!

The way to fix this troop is for the troop’s committee and its chair to either educate the Scoutmaster and his assistants or—if they still don’t get it—throw these jerks out on their ears.
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Hi Andy,

We have some fairly serious issues with a new committee chair and—related—our son’s Scoutmaster as well. We’re about to enlist the aid of our chartered organization head, and are looking for some documentation that could help.

The background is that during a recent campout an Assistant Scoutmaster repeatedly called my 12 year-old son a liar—later dis-proven—in front of other Scouts. Meanwhile, the CC concocted imaginary—also dis-proven—instances where she “had had to discipline” our son, which conflicted with an earlier statement by her that “she knew of no untoward instances” involving our son.

But, between these two people, they decided that the Second Class rank he’d just earned—including his Scoutmaster conference and successful board of review—was to be revoked and that he would suspended from the troop for the rest of the year. In the meeting with his mother and me, when she told us what our son’s “punishment” would be, she resorted to slamming her fist on the table and shouting at him when he attempted to stand his ground. It actually reached the point where his mother and I stood up and demanded that she stop. Meanwhile, the Scoutmaster, who was in this meeting too, was basically silent.

Luckily, the former Scoutmaster—a really good guy!—was available and willing to give us some counseling and advice. Here’s what he told us…

Rank is earned the minute the board of review is concluded and no one is allowed to revoke or withhold an earned rank, for any reason.

Normal protocol for behavioral issues is for the Scoutmaster to sit down individually with the Scout, as a first step toward resolution.

Any meeting with parents about their Scout son should not include the boy and should be between the Scoutmaster and the parents.

It’s not the role of a Committee Chair to discipline Scouts.

It’s improper at all times for any adult to yell at or slam a fist at a Scout.

It’s improper for any adult volunteer to “label” a youth (i.e., “You’re a liar”), whether one-on-one or in public.

If you could provide validation and/or clarification, we’d be most grateful. Thank you! (Name & Council Withheld)

Your son’s Scoutmaster is absolutely correct on all points, and this troop definitely has folks that are completely out of line.  All of what your Scoutmaster friend has advised you can be found in any Scoutmaster Handbook or Troop Leader Guidebook.

This, however, is for the troop’s other leaders to solve—not you. Since the chartered organization has complete “hire-fire” power, and since no “three strikes” or anything else applies (we’re not talking about employees here), the head of the organization can act instantly. All it takes, with a witness present, is to meet eyeball to eyeball with those who need to be removed and say, “Thank you for your past services. They will no longer be needed, effective immediately.”

This is important for all to know: The removed person or persons have no recourse for reinstatement—if they appeal to the district or the council, they will be told that the chartered organization has this authority, and no one else.

DON’T try to fight this fight yourself—You’ll only be subject to further rancor, accusations, frustration, and tons of emotional and physical energy wasted…and your son will be lost somewhere in the melee. This is for that friendly (and correct!) former Scoutmaster and others currently serving on the troop’s committee to do directly with this troop’s chartered organization head.

Happy Scouting!

Andy

Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Write to askandybsa@yahoo.com. Please include your name and council. (If you’d prefer to be anonymous, if published, let me know and that’s what we’ll do.)

[No. 586 – 2/12/2019 – Copyright © Andy McCommish 2019]