Green Bar Enhanced Training - the Beginings…

In the Fall of 2001, Ed Badger asked Carl Gleditsch, Raj Hora and Dale Karweik if they would like to work with him to produce a new adult leader training course that would incorporate the new training materials for Boy Scout Leaders. The course would be based on the new training materials and would reflect the information Ed had received at the Philmont Training Center.

During the early stages of development, the four Scouters realized the course needed a name and a focus. Dale Karweik suggested naming the course after the founder of American Boy Scouting - William Hilcourt, more commonly known as "Green Bar Bill". Although Lord Robert Baden-Powell, assembled the first concepts that would become Scouting, it was Green Bar Bill that understood that Americans were different from British youth and culture and the organization in America would have to reflect this difference. The emphasis on Scout Patrols, youth leadership and the outdoor experience were the results of the efforts of Green Bar Bill. Green Bar Bill was also a very dedicated proponent and trainer for these elements through his monthly articles in Boy's Life and his editions of the Boy Scout, the Patrol Leader's and the Scoutmaster's Handbooks that defined Scouting for several generations of Scouts and Scouters. It seemed appropriate that this should be the name of the course which features these programs.

Dale also suggested that the course symbol should be a single green bar, the symbol of the Assistant Patrol Leader. This simple symbol reflects the philosophy of this course concerning the roles of adults within a Troop. Adults in a successful, boy run troop, assist the Patrol Leaders. Adults should not be replacements, substitutes or surrogates for youth leaders. They should operate behind the scenes in support of the youth who are responsible for learning and exercising Troop Leadership. They operate in the shadows of the youth leaders.

The ultimate goal of this course is NOT to teach you to be a great leader, but to teach you how to teach your Scouts to create a successful, fun and meaningful program, to establish an environment in which the Scouts can learn and practice the leadership to make that program happen and to give the Scouts the support and guidance they need to grow into prepared responsible citizens. The measure of the success of an adult leader is a measure of the extent that the Scouts never realize how much you have helped them until they are ready to move onward. That is what the Green Bar Training Course is all about.