Patrol Planning & Operations
How patrols plan and run their own programs, meetings, and outings.
Plan-Do-Review
Scouts Canada has created a clear, uncluttered, engaging process in the “Plan-Do-Review” component of the Canadian Path .
Troop Based High Adventure Programs | Part 6
Detailed preparation is the key to any successful high adventure program.
Build Your Own High Adventure
High Adventure trips are generally thought of as long-term camping experiences in remote or otherwise remarkable areas for experienced Scouts and Scouters.
Patrol Outings
I would guess that one Troop in twenty schedules actual, independent Patrol outings.
Patrol Log Book
Printed edition cover.
What a Patrol Leader Does When Things Go Wrong.
What can go wrong: 1.
High Adventure Canoe Trip 1 - Overview
For the last nine years every summer our Scouts pile into a van and drive north to Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park for a week-long high adventure canoe trip.
The Patrol Leader's Council and Planning
When we think about a patrol leader’s council we form a picture of Scouts sitting around a table talking and making plans but what’s really going on? The Senior patrol leader is in charge, the patrol leaders are assembled , the scribe is ready, the Scoutmaster is on hand to advise… what happens next? More importantly what’s happened before they all get to the table? Here’s how you can show your senior patrol leader the planning part of his job – four steps and fifteen minutes of advising: To make things happen for the troop you need to build four components – structure, content, planning and preparation.
Patrol Hikes
From The Patrol System Published by Scouts Canada in 1960.
Program - Canned or Fresh?
Canned programs for Scouts are attractive because they are easy.
Keeping a Scoutmaster's Log
A couple of years ago on a Venture Canoe trip one of my fellow leaders kept a detailed log of the outing.
Podcast Clips
Episode 369 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Buss Price (Troop 349, Verona, WI) on annual planning conferences and patrol shuffling; Rob Kerrigan (Troop 1, Portland, ME) on patrol camping weekends and adult-defined frameworks for youth planning.
Episode 344 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Paul Geisler asks what to do when most of a patrol can't attend an outing; anonymous Scoutmaster asks how to engage older Scouts losing interest and transition to youth-led model; Timo Sopeta asks about the quarterly program plan with advance permission slips; Kevin Ames asks how best to use the Junior Assistant Scoutmaster position.
Episode 332 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Jeff asks whether refusing to sign off on a Scout who did nothing in a historian role is out of line, and how to encourage Scouts to fulfill positions of responsibility; Brian Frey (Crew 808, Hawaii) asks about using an annual permission slip instead of per-event forms.
Episode 307 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Craig Snodgrass, Scoutmaster of Troop 1 in El Cajon, California, asks how frequently the Patrol Leaders Council should plan activities and whether adults should set guidelines for the number of outings per month or season.
Episode 306 — PATROL LEADERS COUNCIL PLANNING
Clarke teaches that effective scout planning begins with 'Who are we?' rather than 'What do we do?', using the paradox of choice to argue that defined constraints — the scout program's field of play and rules — lead to better planning outcomes than unlimited options.
Episode 287 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Anonymous backer asks what questions to ask adult volunteers when visiting troops during a Webelos crossover; Jim Witt of Troop 316 in Champaign, IL asks how to organize a nine-scout troop with meaningful patrol leadership; anonymous sender asks whether troop fundraisers count as service hours.
Episode 282 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Multiple emails answered: Darrell Oakley (Troop 132, Upton MA) asks about PLC meeting logistics and what non-PLC scouts do; Ty Williams (Clarkston WA) asks how to guide a very young new troop of six using the patrol method; anonymous question about removing disruptive non-registered parents from a troop; and a youth patrol leader asks how to handle a scout with possible mental health and behavioral issues.
Episode 262 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Andy Davis asks how to guide new scouts into balanced patrols when they all want to join the larger patrol; also Glenn Grezik asks whether a scout should receive their patch immediately after passing a board of review.
Episode 229 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Multiple email questions answered: Don Fowler (appointing vs. electing patrol leaders in special circumstances); John Vaughn and Steven Siruti (sending scouts to camp without their troop); anonymous (who should choose the summer camp); two anonymous questions on handling serious misbehavior — theft and a physical fight — using a 'first aid' analogy deferring serious issues to parents; Scott Green on empowering scouts and implementing change as a new scoutmaster.
Episode 218 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Hugh McCann (Troop 113, Somerset, NJ) asks about administering medications like Benadryl to scouts; followed by an anonymous email about the failure of planning forms and checklists to support youth-led troop operations.
Episode 190 — SCOUTMASTERSHIP in 7 MINUTES
15-minute patrol leader training: a catechism of questions and answers covering the patrol leader's goal, how scouts reach First Class, what scouts do, participation, communication, preparation, and the three steps of planning, preparation, and execution.
Episode 188 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Three emails answered: Robert asks about non-scout siblings on campouts; Derek asks about reworking patrol assignments before a crossover; an anonymous ASM asks how to handle an adult-dominated troop.
Episode 181 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Anonymous committee chair asks whether it is typical and acceptable for the patrol leaders council to produce a repetitive annual program plan; Clarke offers three tests for evaluating program activities (patrol-based, advancement opportunities, scouts making it happen themselves).
Episode 175 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Gary Courier from Troop 15 in Charlotte, NC asks whether scouts or adults should book reservations for camping trips; Clarke advises using the rule of thumb 'don't do anything a scout can do,' while acknowledging some tasks genuinely require adults.
Episode 174 — THE COLORADO EXPERIMENT
Third interview with Arlam Ward, Scoutmaster of Troop 17 in Colorado, covering the troop's first Memorial Day camping trip: patrol-led setup and cooking, managing involved parents, duty rosters, the stop-start-continue reflection tool, upcoming backpacking and summer camp plans, and the origin of the 'scout banana' nickname for the fleur-de-lis.
Episode 158 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Dave asks whether scouts are held to a higher standard than others — Clarke discusses the scout oath and law as aspirations rather than external measures. Jeff Zook of Troop 222 in Oxnard, CA asks how to get the senior patrol leader to send out the troop meeting plan early — Clarke explains the distinction between planning, preparation, structure, and content.
Episode 128 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Anonymous sender asks how far in advance the Patrol Leaders Council should plan events; Clarke discusses patience, teaching boys to plan rather than handing them forms, and the incremental nature of youth planning development.
Episode 62 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Todd Drady, Troop 875, St. Augustine FL — how to handle last-minute campout additions and cancellations, and how to get commitments from scouts and adults.
Episode 53 — SCOUTMASTERSHIP in 7 MINUTES
Venture patrols explained — distinct from chartered venture crews; how troops use venture patrols to organize high adventure outings for older scouts.
Episode 52 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Ray asks three questions about patrol makeup: how changes affect patrol performance, how Clarke guides the PLC on patrol balance, and how older scouts transition to a venture patrol.
Episode 44 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Larry Geiger and Alan on patrol leader elections — parliamentary vs. constitutional models of troop governance
Episode 25 — SCOUTMASTERSHIP in 7 MINUTES
Patrol logs — trip records as a tool for improving patrols and building the program
Episode 24 — HIGH ADVENTURE PLANNING
Part 2 — building out the details: crew formation, gear, permits, and transportation
Episode 18 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Scoutmaster Chuck asks how to reorganize a 38-scout troop into five patrols, including a new scout patrol and venture patrol; Clarke advises delegating to the SPL and PLC and discusses ideal patrol size.
Episode 11 — SCOUTMASTERSHIP in 7 MINUTES
Youth-led 'Magical Mystery Tour' outing themed around Australian culture, including an interview with the senior patrol leader about planning, adult support roles, and kangaroo burgers.