Wood Badge

In 1911, four years after Scouting began in Great Britain, Lord Baden-Powell began training Scouters through a series of lectures. This led to the first Wood Badge training course for Scoutmasters held eight years later at Gilwell Park near London. In 1936, an experimental Wood Badge course was conducted in the United States at the Schiff Scout Reservation. Then in 1948, the first American Wood Badge course was introduced in the United States as advanced training for trainers of Boy Scout leaders. Later, the program was extended to include troop committee members, commissioners, and Explorer leaders.

Experiments began in the late 1960s with a leadership development Wood Badge course emphasizing eleven leadership skills of “competencies.” This program was launched in 1972 in support of a major revision of the Boy Scout phase of the program. In 1978, an evaluation of the Boy Scout Leader Wood Badge course revealed a need for greater emphasis on the practical aspects of good troop operation. The course now provides a blend of Scoutcraft skills and practical troop operation, mixed with a variety of leadership exercises. The course is under constant review for possible areas of further refinement.