A scout troop is divided into patrols.
A Scout patrol is a small team of normally eight to ten members where Scouts learn skills together, share responsibilities and take on leadership roles. As a patrol, young men plan their campouts, guide each other through rank advancement, and together learn scouting skills. This is called the Patrol Method.
As a member of a patrol, Scouts are afforded opportunities that are hard to find anywhere else. Unlike a sports team, a Scout patrol carries out a wide range of tasks that require pooling resources and working together to function successfully in all kinds of circumstances.
For most young people, being in a Scout patrol will be the first time they have to rely upon themselves and other young people to follow an array of necessary steps to satisfy objectives that requires a wide range of life skills.
Like any team, a patrol will function well only as long as all the particular responsibilities pertaining to the completion of a task are carried out successfully. Because of its size, this gives every member an opportunity to participate, and this in itself results in some positive outcomes. Making a contribution to the patrol’s success provides a welcome sense of belonging, of being appreciated, and a feeling of competency resulting in self esteem.
Click on the patrol emblems or patrol name to visit that patrol's page.
“The patrol system is not one method in which Scouting can be carried on. It is the only method.”
—Lord Baden-Powell, Scouting’s founder