Scouting America, Troop 33, Los Altos CA

Scout positions

Troop 33 is Scout-led, and Scouts run it through positions of responsibility. This page describes each one. The Junior, Senior and Honorary groups are only a guide to how much responsibility each position carries; no position requires a particular rank. Positions matter for rank too: Star, Life and Eagle require serving actively in a position for a set time. The Troop's rules for terms, elections and credit are on the leadership policies page.

Every position needs regular attendance at Troop meetings, Green Bar meetings and planning meetings. Green Bar is the meeting of everyone who holds a position of responsibility. The Patrol Leaders' Council (PLC) is the smaller group within Green Bar: the Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders, Patrol Leaders and the Scribe. Some planning meetings are for all of Green Bar and some only for the PLC; the calendar event says which. Scouts set goals at the start of a term and report on their progress. Your Patrol Advisor, the adult leader assigned to your patrol (look yours up in the Patrol tab of the roster app), follows how you are doing. Every position has a "reports to" leader, shown below.

Junior positions

Positions with a smaller scope, a good place to start.

Senior positions

Positions with more responsibility, a good fit for Scouts growing as leaders. The Troop expects every Eagle Scout to have served in at least one of these.

Honorary positions

These are by invitation, at the Scoutmaster's discretion, and usually held by Eagle Scouts.

How credit works

To count a position toward rank, a Scout has to serve actively. The Troop writes down what that means for each position so that Scouts, parents and leaders have the same expectations. Each position's expectations are scored from 1 to 5 in five categories: 1 means the expectation was not met, 2 is below expectation, 3 meets the basic expectation, 4 meets the target, and 5 excels. A Scout earns a full six months of credit with a total of at least 15 and no 1 in any category. Scouts are encouraged to aim for 20 to 25. One category in every position is Scout Spirit, which the Patrol Advisor judges. The detail pages show what a 3, 4 and 5 look like for each category, and the entries on this page say what a basic (3) level looks like. This does not add to the BSA requirements. It spells out what "serve actively" means here.

The Patrol Advisor talks with the Scout during the term, and again at the end, and may ask the Scout to write a short summary of what they accomplished and learned. If a Scout is not meeting the minimum, the Patrol Advisor can replace them with a Scout who is willing to serve actively. That happens rarely, and only after talking with the Scout and the Scoutmaster.

Leadership training

The BSA's Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops (ILST) is a short course for every Scout in a leadership position. It is held about twice a year, soon after the Senior Patrol Leader and Patrol Leader elections, and it is worth repeating each term because the leaders set goals and form their team together. Completing it lets a Scout wear the "Trained" emblem, and it is required before the council's more advanced youth leadership courses.

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