The following information is now historical in that CSTWB (Cub Scout Trainer WB) was discontinued in 1999.  Cub Scout Leaders wishing to take the advanced training Wood Badge course are now encouraged to attend the Boy Scout Wood Badge courses until the new combined course is introduced in 2001-2002.

The First Scoutmasters' Course at Gilwell Park, September, 1919.
Lord Baden-Powell is seated center in the front row.



(The Founder of Scouting)


On the morning of September 8, 1919, a 61 year-old retired general of the British Army stepped out into the center of a clearing at Gilwell Park, in Epping Forest, outside London, England. He raised to his lips the horn of a Greater Kudu, one of the largest of African antelopes. He blew a long sharp blast. Nineteen men dressed in short pants andknee socks, their shirt-sleeves rolled up, assembled by patrols for the first Scoutmasters’ training camp held at Gilwell. The camp was designed and guided by Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the World Scouting Movement.

When they had finished their training together, Baden-Powell gave each man a simple wooden bead from a necklace he had found in a Zulu chieftain’s deserted hut when on campaign in South Africa in 1888. The Scoutmasters’ training course was a great success and continued to be held year-after-year. At the end of each course the wooden beads were used to recognize the completion of training. When the original beads ran out, new ones were whittled to maintain the tradition established by Baden-Powell. Because of these beads, the course came to be known as the Wood Badge Course. It continues to this day in England and around the world as the advanced training course for leaders in Scouting.
Although an experimental course was conducted in 1936, Wood Badge training was officially inaugurated in the United States in 1948. Since that time it has grown and developed and become a key motivating force in the training of volunteer leaders in the Boy Scouts of America.

For 10 years, Wood Badge courses were conducted by the Boy Scouts of America exclusively for the purpose of training representatives from councils in methods of training and how to help with the leadership training programs of their own councils. Participants were required to subscribe to an agreement of service to this effect.

Since 1958, qualified local councils have been authorized to conduct their own Wood Badge courses to provide advanced leadership training for Scoutmasters and those Scouters who support troop opera-tions. With regional approval, two or more local councils may also cooperate in conducting this training experience in a cluster-council Wood Badge course.

In the late 1960’s, the principles of leadership development were introduced experimentally into Wood Badge. By 1972, they had become an integral part of the program. The skills of leadership were emphasized in Wood Badge as a means of fostering the growth of up-to-date leadership knowledge, skills, and attitudes among Scouting’s leaders. By the late 1970’s, Wood Badge had evolved. Revisions completed in 1979 provided a continued emphasis on leadership skills, balanced by both Scoutcraft and program activities.

The course content was revised in 1994 and now incorporates key elements of Ethics in Action introduced into Boy Scout training and literature over the last several years. Boy Scout Leader Wood Badge reinforces and supplements the new materials included in the Scoutmaster Handbook (1991), Scoutmasters’ Junior Leader Training Kit (1991), Junior Leader Training Conference (1992), Continuing Education for Scout Leaders (1993), the Train the Trainer Conference (1993), and Scoutmastership Fundamentals (1994). Wood Badge continues to provide advanced training in the most current methods of the Boy Scouts of America.
Boy Scout Leader Wood Badge Training offers a unique opportunity for learning and for leadership. Participants live and work together in a patrol with other Scouters. While they learn about the skills of leadership and the techniques of Scoutcraft, they have the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the values and the methods of Scouting. They experience the fun and adventure of Scouting at first hand, and in a very special way. With other Scouting leaders, and an experienced staff setting the example, they try to live Scouting at its best.

Wood Badge is considered by many as a peak experience in their Scouting careers. It has served as a source of training and inspiration to thousands of Scouters. In their turn, these Scout leaders have affected the lives of millions of America’s youth.
Further information about Boy Scout Leader Wood Badge should be available through your district or council leadership training committee.

Note:  The tartan border on this page is the tartan of the Clan Maclaren. The Wood Badge neckerchief displays this tartan in honor of W. F. deBois Maclaren the Scottish benefactor who purchased the estate at Gilwell Park in Epping Forest for the British Scout Association. Gilwell was the site of the first Scoutmaster' training course in 1919. It has remained the traditional "home" of Wood Badge since its inception.



The general purpose of Cub Scout Trainer Wood Badge training is to develop Council and District trainers to provide effective administration and implementation of Cub Scout leadership training, thus ensuring a quality Cub Scout program.

Cub Scout Trainer Wood Badge is the advanced training program for trainers of Cub Scout leaders. This includes members of District and Council Cub Scout leader training teams, as well as Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioners and their staffs. Other volunteer and professional Scouters with Cub Scout leader training responsibilities may also be invited to attend.

Scouters with responsibilities not related to delivery of training should seek training more appropriate to their registered positions. It is important to recognize that Wood Badge is a training course, not an awards program or a fraternal organization. Scouters with no training responsibilities will not benefit from the Cub Scout Trainer Wood Badge experience.

Each Region may conduct one or more Cub Scout Trainer Wood Badge courses each year. Participants attend only by invitation from the Region, based on recommendations by their Council.
This is a common question, which deserves some attention here. The two courses share a common spirit and tradition, though the course content has some significant differences.

First and foremost, Wood Badgers are all created equal; one course is not more prestigious, or more difficult, or more important than the other. Wood Badge has a fine tradition of fellowship that should be shared between all of us who have worked our tickets, whether in Pack 1 or in Troop 1.

The traditions of Wood Badge apply equally to both Boy Scout and Cub Scout courses. Much of the symbolism is the same, and the regalia (beads, neckerchief, and woggle) for both courses are identical. We even sing the same song!

The fundamental difference between the two courses is in the audiences they serve. Boy Scout Wood Badge is designed to improve leadership in the Troop, while Cub Scout Trainer Wood Badge is meant to improve the performance of Cub Scout leader trainers. This results in different areas of concentration throughout the practical course (for example, outdoor skills are more important in the Boy Scout course than in the Cub Scout course) and different types of projects in the ticket (Boy Scout ticket projects often address personal and unit needs, while Cub Scout ticket projects are written for District or Council benefit).

Boy Scout courses are sponsored by Councils, while Cub Scout courses are conducted by Regions. As a result, Cub Scout courses are not as numerous, and the staff of a Cub Scout course contains Scouters from across the Region.

There are different staff positions in Boy Scout and Cub Scout courses, but for the most part, their functions are about the same. Also, aside from the obvious Pack vs Troop organization, the Wood Badge units function in similar fashions.


 
 
     



I say, "you only get out of life what you put into it".