Item Name: Senior Patrol Leader 1939

Item ID: SPLB-1-3-5

Collector Rating: 1

Qualifications and Duties Fall 1936 until October 1945

The office of Senior Patrol Leader is the link between the Patrols and the commissioned Scouters. He serves as a Troop leader, not attached to a Patrol, and should be selected by the Troop Leader’s Council with the approval of the Scoutmaster. He ranks in the Troop next to the Assistant Scoutmaster.

The office is open only to a First Class Scout who has served for the minimum term of twenty weeks as Patrol Leader. This last point is of great importance. Since he will be consulted by the Patrol Leaders and is expected in aid them, he should be an expert in Patrol problems, and should be of strong character, proficient in Scouting and of marked ability as a leader. His appointment is authorized by the Troop Committee on the recommendation of the Scoutmaster.

Duties of the Senior Patrol Leader

The Senior Patrol Leader performs such Troop administrative and executive duties as are assigned to him by his scoutmaster. He is usually made responsible for directing the movements of the Troop meeting programs as planned by the Troop Leaders’ Council, in order to keep the program on schedule.

Through the Patrol Leaders he encourages Patrol activity and Scout advancement.

He assists the Patrol Leaders in the planning of Patrol meetings and hikes, and aids them in training for such special events as District or Local Council Rallies or Camporees.

He studies each Patrol and the Troop as a whole and presents to the Scoutmaster any question or subjects that may be valuable to the Patrols’ or the Troop’s activities or welfare, originating among the Scouts themselves.