The office of Senior Patrol Leader is also an important one, for he 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 Leaders' 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 a minimum term of twenty weeks as Patrol Leader (By-Laws, Art. XII, Sec. 16, CI. 1). This last point is of great importance. Since he will be consulted by the Patrol Leaders and is expected to 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 questions or subjects that may be valuable to the Patrols' or the Troop's activities or welfare, originating among the Scouts themselves.

Junior Assistant Scoutmaster

A First Class Scout sixteen years of age or over may be appointed as Junior Assistant Scoutmaster. A warrant is issued by the Local Council upon the recommendation of the Scoutmaster and the Troop Committee.

This optional rank may be utilized to provide for Assistant Scoutmaster service to the Scoutmaster in cases where there are no men eligible for commissions as Assistant Scoutmasters, or where there are not sufficient Assistant Scoutmasters and where effective service can be rendered by a First Class Scout under eighteen years of age.

The office of Junior Assistant Scoutmaster may also be used for the purpose of holding the interest of First Class Scouts, sixteen years of age or over, as expert instructors or for other service to the Troop, but not to perform the usual executive duties of Assistant Scoutmasters.

There is no limit to the number of Junior Assistant Scoutmasters which a Troop may have. They pay the same registration fee as other Scouts and are registered on the regular blanks like other Scouts, with a notation after their names indicating their office. They have the privilege, however, of wearing the same uniform as a Scouter.

Duties Of The Junior Assistant Scoutmaster

Specific duties of this officer may be:

Game leadership. In this capacity he helps plan games for the game periods of all meetings and hikes and has charge of the Troop during this period in Troop meetings, securing in advance such materials or equipment as are needed and staging the games.

The job as a Junior Assistant Scoutmaster gives the older boy a chance to serve the Troop.

Instruction in special Scout Requirements in which he excels and coaching of Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class Scouts.

Outdoor Activities Director, giving help whenever possible to the Patrols, as well as actively directing arrangements for Troop hikes and camps.

Contest Leader, arranging for Patrol contests in Scoutcraft, stunts, yells, special feats.

Drill Master in charge of practice at meetings and execution on hikes and parades.

Troop Librarian, Troop Scribe, Troop Quartermaster.

Editor of Troop Bulletin, Press Club member, and correspondent for community newspapers.

He may also be put in charge of certain Troop projects that arise from time to time such as Troop Good Turns, the decoration of the meeting room, the investigation of appropriate camp sites and hike routes, and the like.

It is essential that the Junior Assistant Scoutmaster be given enough to do to keep his interest in the Troop and the community. He is at the age where he may decide to be a Scoutmaster when his time comes, or to drop out entirely. If he decides in favor of the first, in a great many cases he will apply for his Assistant's commission when he is eighteen and later become Scoutmaster. His interest should be kept burning and he should be made to feel that the Troop needs his services.

Patrol Officers. Patrol Leader

Next to the Scoutmaster, the Patrol Leaders may be the officers who most directly influence the boys of the Troop. For this reason it is imperative that they be the right kind of Scouts, receiving the right kind of encouragement and training from all Troop officers above them,

The qualifications and duties of a Patrol Leader are thoroughly discussed in Chat 12.

Assistant Patrol Leader

The selection of his Assistant is the responsibility of the Patrol Leader in conference with the Scoutmaster. Obviously he will be able to work better with a boy congenial to him. The Patrol Leader should be aided, however, to pick his Assistant not because of personal friendship, but on the basis of all-round ability, leadership qualities, and acceptability to the Patrol. He trains his Assistant, with the Scoutmaster's cooperation, so that the Assistant may himself qualify in time as a Patrol Leader.

A frequent and usually successful arrangement is for the Leader and his Assistant each to assume particular supervision of one-half of the Patrol's membership. Often the leader will assign a special duty to his Assistant, perhaps the keeping of the Patrol records or the instruction in some phase of Scoutcraft.