It is important for the Scoutmaster to have one or more Assistants who can be of real help to him in running the Troop. The type of man picked for an Assistant therefore depends largely upon the Scoutmaster, since he is the one who knows the type with which he can work best.

The preferable Assistant Scoutmaster is one who has come up through the ranks and therefore is thoroughly familiar with the Scout Program, who can help out in any capacity when the Scoutmaster needs him, and who is training himself to become a Scoutmaster at a future date.

According to the By-Laws (Art. XII, Sec. 3), "Assistant Scoutmasters shall be at least eighteen years of age and may be selected and promoted because of their experience as members in a Troop and efficiency in Scouting." They are commissioned by the National Council on the same conditions as the Scoutmaster.

Duties Of The Assistant Scoutmaster

Assistant Scoutmasters perform such duties and assume such responsibilities as are assigned to them by the Scoutmaster. The most important of these is the running of the Troop in the absence of the Scoutmaster.

Part of the actual supervision of the Troop should be entirely up to the Assistant, and, if there are several, each one should have a definite service to perform to the Troop under the Scoutmaster's direction. This might involve:

General hike and camp leadership.

Reviewing of Scout Requirements.

Instruction on special subjects.

Presence at the first meetings and hikes of inexperienced Patrols.

Directing the activities of Junior Assistant Scoutmasters.

Troop meeting program organization.

The most successful Scoutmasters assign one or more specific responsibilities to each Assistant and give him an opportunity to perform them, subject to general supervision.