Your Patrol Activities

Don't Just Sit There

Okay, we've got a patrol name, a patrol patch, a patrol flag, maybe a patrol signature (totem), a patrol cheer, and a patrol yell. Now what? Well, the next thing we need to keep the patrol's spirit alive is something for the patrol to do. Most Scouts are content to just attend weekly meetings and go on troop campouts once a month, but the Scouts in a real patrol would never settle for that. Think about it, you've put a lot of work into the patrol as Patrol Leader, and each member of the patrol has been right there with you. After all that, what good is it to limit the patrol to just troop meetings and activities?

Chances are pretty good that will work for about a month before the members of your patrol start getting restless. Not only that, you'll find it harder and harder to keep the patrol together, keep them working together, as a patrol. They'll start to think that the patrol exists only during troop meetings and activities, and that's not how a real patrol thinks.

So, the best thing you can do as a Patrol Leader is to get the patrol active. Start getting them together to have patrol meetings away from your regular troop meetings. Use those patrol meetings to plan patrol activities, set patrol goals, and keep the patrol together doing things as a patrol. That will keep the spirit alive and make your job much easier.

Do Something

So, what exactly should your patrol do? Just about anything you can think of! It could be taking a trip to the mall together, going to a movie together, or something even more ambitious. Even if all you do is get together to practice your Scout skills or work on advancement requirements together, it will keep the patrol together, having fun, and working together. Once you get used to it you can start thinking and planning other activities like a patrol hike, a bike trip, or even a patrol campout. Almost anything is possible.

Let me tell you about the Cobra Patrol of Troop 59. The troop set aside two or three months on their program calendar for patrol campouts and activities. They even had a bit of land nearby the patrol's could use for patrol camping, and each patrol had their own campsite. Well, after a couple months of troop campouts, and patrol campouts at the troop's property, the Cobra Patrol started getting tired of going to the same place and doing the same things. They started looking for something more exciting.

Then they heard about a trip the Venture Patrol took a few months before. They went up into the mountains and camped on a glacier. It sounded like so much fun to the Cobra Patrol that they couldn't think of anything else. They started asking the Ventures questions, getting phone numbers, equipment lists, and just about every tidbit of information they could. They made all the calls, put together their menu and their campout plan, got a couple adults to agree to go with them, and presented the idea to the Scoutmaster.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the plan. The Cobra Patrol had thought of everything. Their plan was the third one he'd seen that week and, while most of the other patrols had planned yet another trip to the troop's property, and a few patrols hadn't planned anything at all, here was the Cobra Patrol planning a little excitement and adventure. He looked at the Patrol Leader and said: "I only have one problem with this plan." The Patrol Leader looked nervous, probably thinking he wouldn't let them go. Then, the Scoutmaster smiled and said: "Why didn't you ask me to go?"

A few weeks later the Cobra Patrol told everyone in the troop about their grand adventure camping on a glacier. Every Scout in every other patrol was amazed. Most simply never thought of taking such a trip, some didn't even think it was possible. The Cobra Patrol was top patrol that month. They really showed the other patrols that they could do anything; all they had to do was decide to do something!