Needed Material

As discussed and decided upon at Sixth Training Meeting.

Program. First Day

(a) Assembly: As soon as group has gathered, Quartermaster and Grubmaster and their helpers distribute equipment and food stuff to be carried, and make a quick check of the items which boys were to bring.

(b) Outbound Journey: Trip to camp site is then immediately undertaken as arranged for by Treasurer and Hikemaster.

(c) Camp Making: Upon arrival, form "duffel line." Look over site for best location of tents, kitchen, latrine, etc., then make camp, following the schedule described in HPL as to the work of the "Tenting" and the "Cooking" group. As soon as camp is completed, a thorough check of set-up is made, covering points in HSM.

(d) Evening Activities: After (1) Supper, eaten in family style, there is still enough daylight for (2)

Game Period, during which a Tag, Spud or Capture the Flag may be played (HSM, see Games Index). Following this, the (3) Camp Fire is lighted, and an appropriate program put on, along lines described in HSM, under the leadership of the Cheermaster or the Senior Patrol Leader, with each Patrol Leader contributing a song, a stunt or a game. Toward the end of the evening, the Scoutmaster takes over for a talk on "Patrol Living," covering the highlights of Chapters I, III, XI and XII of HPL, especially emphasizing the Patrol Leader's loyalty to his Patrol members, and the Patrol's loyalty and helpfulness to the Troop and the community. The Scoutmaster finishes by asking the Patrol Leaders if they are ready to re-affirm their Leader's Promise now that they have received the Leader's training. The Troop flag is brought into the camp fire circle, and the boy leaders pledge themselves to the Patrol Leader's Promise, reciting it after the Senior Patrol Leader (see HSM). This is followed immediately by Taps. It is of greatest importance to the success of this whole leaders' training that this last period be of great dignity and sincerity. It is the challenge to the Patrol Leaders and the key note of the Troop's future work.

Second Day

(e) Morning and Noon Activities: (1) For the preparation of Breakfast, a shift of responsibilities should be made, with a cooking group different from that which prepared the evening meal. Here again, the meal should be cooked as a Patrol meal and served family style. Breakfast and straightening up of camp is followed by a series of (2) Scoutcraft Activities, such as Signal Relay, the Robbed Camp, Bombing the Camp, Water Boiling, Nature "Scavenger" Hunt, or a Treasure Hunt (HSM, see Games Index). (3) Noon

Meal is prepared on Patrol basis, with responsibilities for cooking again shifted. After clean-up, a short (4) Rest Period is decreed.

(f) Breaking Camp should follow closely the procedure described in the HPL, the "Cooking" group of the previous day now doing the work of the "Tenting" group, and vice versa, to give the participants the opportunity to handle all of the equipment. After the packing is done, and the packs have been arranged in the familiar duffel-line, a thorough inspection of the camp site is made-one group inspecting kitchen site, the other tent site, then changing over and using a second inspection to discover what was overlooked during the first.

(g) Return Journey: As arranged for by Hikemaster and Treasurer working together. Discussion on way home of good and weak points of experience. Back in

. town, the Quartermaster takes over and checks in the camping equipment used. Then general dismissal.

The End and the Beginning:

And thus, the six months of intensive Patrol Leaders' Training come to an end, with your boy leaders more than ever realizing their responsibilities, and more than ever capable of carrying them through.

But the training of the Troop's boy leaders is not finished. On the contrary! This training is, as already pointed out, "a continuous job and should never be considered as completed."

All good things come in threes," says an old proverb. The Patrol Method is one of them. There are three phases to it, each of decided importance and each closely related to the others:

1. The Troop Leaders' Council-treated in the previous Chat.

2. The activities of the Patrols as separate units- Patrol Work.

3. The activities of the sum of the Patrols as one corporate unit-Troop Work.