The History of Wood Badge

On the morning of September 8, 1919, a 61-yearold retired general of the British army stepped into the center of a clearing at Gilwell Park in Epping Forrest, outside of London, England. He raised to his lips a Kudu horn and blew a long, sharp blast. Nineteen men dressed in short pants and knee socks assembled by patrols for the first Scoutmasters’ training camp held at Gilwell. The camp was designed and guided by Robert Stevenson Smyth Baden-Powell, the founder of the worldwide 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 a 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 the United States in 1936, Wood Badge training was not officially inaugurated until 1948. Since that time it has grown and become a key motivating force in training of volunteer leaders in the Boy Scouts of America.

For the first ten years, Wood Badge courses were conducted by the BSA 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 had to sign an agreement to provide service to the council after training.

Since 1958, 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 operations.

In 1968, the principals of leadership development were introduced. 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. Revisions kept coming out every few years to keep the leadership skills updated, balanced by both Scoutcraft and program activities.
The 21st Century saw all training programs being revised and the old Scout Leaders’ Wood Badge has become Adult Leader Wood Badge. It has been updated to newer leadership skills for management and is a follow on to the basic training received by Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and Venturer Leaders in their job specific training. Good luck on the course.