Issue 587 – February 19, 2019

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Hi Andy,

Our brand new Scouts BSA troop for girls is growing faster than we imagined. We were just four potential Scouts before January and, as the real kickoff has happened, we’ll quickly be at 14! Where it liked like we might be a single patrol we’re going to start off with two!

As a brand-new Scoutmaster, I don’t understand where the Senior Patrol Leader fits in. If our Scouts camp as patrols and cook as patrols, what about the Senior Patrol Leader? Where does she pitch her tent? Is she on a patrol duty roster? Can you help me figure out where my Senior Patrol Leader fits in? In a troop of 14, do we have an Assistant Senior Patrol Leader too, and two patrols of six? Or something else? (Matt Johnson, Scouts BSA SM, Bay-Lakes Council, WI)

Good news—this is going to be easier than you may be thinking!

First, let’s look at the two top Scout leadership positions in a Scouts BSA troop (whether male or female, although I’ll use the latter here, since that’s what we’re talking about).

Often contrary to popular belief, the one who literally runs the troop isn’t the Scoutmaster; it’s the Senior Patrol Leader (“SPL”), with the help of her Assistant Senior Patrol Leader (“ASPL”).

With your new troop of 14 Scouts (CONGRATULATIONS!), the first thing they’ll do is elect from among themselves, their SPL. Next, the SPL—with the Scoutmaster’s guidance but not decision-making—chooses her ASPL. These two aren’t members of any patrol during their tenure; they’re a separate team. The ASPL and the Patrol Leader of each patrol, all report to the SPL, who is provided quiet one-on-one guidance and coaching by the Scoutmaster.

So, with the SPL elected and ASPL appointed, the remaining 12 Scouts are asked by the SPL to divide themselves into two groups of six Scouts each, with no Scout left out. (Yes, this is their decision and theirs alone.)

Now you have a troop—made up of functioning patrols Scouts each (keeping an even number per patrol at the outset is best for all), plus their SPL and ASPL. The two patrols each elect their Patrol Leader (“PL”), and the PL chooses her Assistant Patrol Leader (“APL”).

This troop will also need a Troop Scribe—a Scout selected by the SPL and ASPL, who will take notes of all decisions made at Patrol Leaders Council (“PLC”) meetings.

These PLC meetings are run by the SPL, with the ASPL, both Patrol Leaders, and the Scribe (a non-decision-making role) in attendance. These are the meetings the Scout leaders of the troop will use to decide what will take place in regular troop meetings, where to go for all outdoor and other activities, and what the agendas of these latter activities will be.

So, with this structure in place, overnights are now no-brainers! Each patrol camps next door to one another and each of the six Scouts shares a tent with her “Buddy” (see “Buddy System” in your Troop Leader Guidebook). Meanwhile, the SPL and ASPL share their own separate tent together.

On hikes, campouts, other activities, and even troop meetings, neither the SPL nor the ASPL has “patrol responsibilities.” They’re busy running the troop—through the two Patrol Leaders.

For meals on an overnight, each patrol is to cook for seven, because they’ll have a “guest”—either the SPL or the ASPL—at mealtime. In this way, the guest top troop leaders can see first-hand how well each patrol is coming along in bonding, cooperating, and building “patrol spirit.”

What about adults? you may ask, and that’s a legitimate question. Adults camp separately from the patrols and SPL-ASPL. Out-of-sight, ideally, but not out of ear-shot! And the adults cook for themselves, just as a patrol would. (NOTE: Occasionally for some meals, like breakfast or lunch, it’s a good idea for the adults to share that meal with the SPL and ASPL, so that the Scoutmaster [and any other adults present, as decided by the Scoutmaster] can assess, coach, and help problem-solve for the SPL and ASPL out of sight of the other Scouts in the two patrols.

And, by the way, when the SPL’s and ASPL’s terms of office end, they’re then free to join whichever patrol they and their new patrol happen to prefer.
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Hi Andy,

We’re having a bit of a problem in our troop now that there are Scouts BSA troops for girls. When the BSA established the advancement “rules” for girls, they allowed extensions for those going for Eagle Scout rank. Now, some of our older Life Scouts want to know why they can’t get an Eagle extension too. I don’t have an answer for them. Do you? (Name & Council Withheld)

The answer’s simple—virtually a no-brainer. Did these older Life Scouts join your troop at age 16 or older? Or instead, have they been working toward Eagle since having joined their troop some five or six years ago? If it’s the first case, then I’d have to say they should be granted an extension if personal circumstances call for it. But if they’ve been in the troop since age 11 (or younger), then I can’t think of a no reason why an extension should be automatic for them.

What many Scouts and even adult volunteers don’t seem to understand is that “Eagle” isn’t the primary goal of the Scouting program. In fact, no young man who ends his Scouting career at a rank other than this is in any way some sort of “failure.” Rank advancement, while important, still represents merely 12.5% of the Methods of Scouting.
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MORE ABOUT PATROLS…

Hi Andy,

No question here; but some important thoughts on what we learned along the way about patrols-thinking instead of troop-thinking.

Our troop is now nine years old, having started with about a half-dozen boys. Our first mistake was to have a single patrol instead of immediately creating two patrols (despite how small they’d be at first).

At the start, our erroneous mindset was “troop” and not “patrol” and it took years to overcome this. Our single start-up single patrol struggled with the “patrol spirit” concept throughout their entire Boy Scout career!

As our troop grew we often “reshuffled” the patrols, typically done by our Scoutmaster instead of leaving it up to the Scouts themselves, and this mostly ended up with disaster. Without really knowing or understanding the new Scout and his personality or what friends he might already have in the troop, in 95% of cases our Scoutmaster made a poor choice for him.

We—the adults in the troop—began to learn when my older son’s Cub Scout den crossed over and joined as an intact “new Scout” patrol. Now, some six years later, the core of the patrol is still intact and they remain very strong and full of patrol spirit.

When I became Scoutmaster a while back, at a time when the troop had become over three dozen Scouts strong, I knew I needed to address this “troop” instead of “patrol” issue for the entire troop. I did some online searching and found Troop 10 in Kansas City, MO—a troop of over 100 Scouts and used the “new-Scout” patrol concept for all incoming boys. So I reached out them to learn how they did this and then applied it to our own troop. The difference was enormous!

Now, when boys cross over from Cub Scouting, they’re assigned to the Yeti Patrol—a temporary patrol for all new Scouts. The Yeti’s elect their own Patrol Leader, who’s coached by a Troop Guide—a fellow Scouts with leadership—who, in turn, is coached by a designated Assistant Scoutmaster. The goal of the Troop Guide (and Assistant Scoutmaster as backup) is to help this new patrol “form-storm-norm-perform” (Bruce Tuckerman, “Development Sequence in Small Groups”) and then reach First Class rank right around their first-year in their patrol.

Then, around the time they’re getting close to First Class (about 13-15 months in), we start suggesting it’ll soon be time for them to move into their permanent patrol. We present two options: to stay together and create a new patrol (the preferred option), or split up and join other existing patrols. In almost all cases, they elect to stay together, give themselves a new name, and continue on in the troop straight up to when they turn 18!

For those who may transfer into our troop with previous Scout experience, they start out in the Yeti Patrol too—the Yeti Patrol becomes their “safe landing” spot, and they remain in this group long enough for them to get to know the other Scouts in the troop and figure out who they have common interests with. Depending on the Scout, this is typically a three- to six-month stopover.

So we’ve finally stepped back from reshuffling Scouts and taken to guiding the Scouts in making their own decisions. We’ve been doing this for two years now and it’s working—it’s addressing the needs of new Scouts with no meddling by adults. Thanks again for all your advice along the way! (Lee Murray, SM, Troop 154, Nevada Area Council)

Fabulous results! It’s a beautiful thing when Scouts themselves can fulfill their own destinies! My only suggestion would be to consider a “Yeti II Patrol” as necessary, so that respectable (and manageable) patrol size can be maintained.

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. 587 – 2/19/2019 – Copyright © Andy McCommish 2019]