Venture Patrol

[hotdesk]

I've got a bit of a problem. A few years ago the troop decided to start a Venture Patrol. They allowed the kids (that were elgible according to BSA guidelines) to decide if they wanted to join it or stay in their current patrol.

 

However, this patrol simply became the "older" scout patrol. It hasn't done anything except for Quetico in the last two years, but that was planned by adults and not the patrol.

 

Some scouts have talked to me (I'm currently a JASM, but have been the SPL-1 total year and PL for a total of 2 years and my dad is the scoutmaster). They have told me that they want to do high adventure outings and want the troop to allow it or they will simply leave the program.

 

The main problem is that since this patrol has been used just to put "older" scouts so not everyone wants to do high adventure. They would be more content sticking with the basic troop outings. However, they are in what the troop has considered the venture patrol.

 

The other problem is that I don't know what to do. They have approached me about running for Patrol Leader so that I can jumpstart the program (I was the first boy elected SPL and was the first SPL in our troop to guide a PLC and plan the meetings---before me the adults did everything).

 

But I'm happy in my current position also. I get to do what I want and help were I want. I've got to assist with the first successful year that we've had a New Scout Program, help the boy chairman of our cartridge recycling fundraiser, and guide the Senior Patrol Leader run the troop himself.

 

So here's the questions:

 

1. What type of stuff should a Venture Patrol do and can they do a sports competition with a Venture Crew?

 

2. How would I go about getting everyone in the patrol intrested in High Adventure outings or just simply helping the patrol out?

 

3. Do I stay at my JASM postion or should I go for the Patrol Leader position?

 

PS: I am already the Chapter Chief for the OA Chapter that I live in.

[Eamonn]

So what does this Venture Patrol do now?

It would seem from what you have posted that the Scoutmaster needs to assign an adult ASM to guide these guys.

I fail to see what difference you stepping in as a Patrol Leader is going to make. If these guys are not interested or just don't want to do the high adventure stuff, they just don't want to.

Could it be that it is you that wants to do this sort of activity? If this is the case maybe you need to be looking for a troop that does the high adventure activities. Or you might want to give some thought about joining a Venture Crew.

Eamonn

[wojauwe]

Hotdesk,

Here is our Councils Venture Web page it has links to lots of information on the Venture program.Things from fast start to

The more advanced Kodiak training.

http://www.joinventuring.com/

Be carefull you don't try to take too much on your own shoulders.Pick the position in troop that you feel you can make the most difference in.You are allready in what can be a very demanding position as Chapter chief.

My personal feeling is that if a group doesn't have enough support to stand alone as a Venture crew they should just stay in their patrols.Why bother calling them a Venture Patrol if it's only in name.

You need to find adult support people who are willing to commit to High adventure program.(our troop has an ASM who works on putting together at least 3 high adventure events a year and all the training trips neccesary for these.The program is open to anyone eligable to participate in high adventure).If you want to become a crew you need support of like minded leaders.

You can have duel membership in Crew and troop.Crew decisions

are not dependent on troop commitee aproval the Crew should have it's own committee.You can't do this alone you will need to find people to help.You can go outside of the troop to recruit.If your Council has a Venturing leadership structure

you could contact them and let them know of your problem.Maybe there are other people in your area who have same situation and would like to link up with you.

Be carefull don't take too much on without support.

(Have you resolved your unit's SPL problem?)

[wojauwe]

I missed part of what you had said.Eamonn pointed it out.Before offering a Venture patrol you need to define what it is going to be.If it's to be for High adventure,let the boys know.If they don't want to do high adventure then it would be silly to join that patrol.Forming a specialty patrol just for older boys only works if they all want the same thing.

E's right if you want Venture you may need to seek out a pre set Crew.

[Bob White]

Wojauwe,

do not confuse a Venture patrol program with a Venturing Crew program they are to totally different things.

 

Hotdesk,

The scoutmaster should have assigned an Assistant Scoutmaster for Venture Patrols to the patrol to help guide train and motivate them. The Venture Patrol sis designed to be an older scout patrol. It should also be based on interest and abilities.

 

You can have more than one venture patrol just as you can have more than one regular patrol or new scout patrol.

 

If what you want is to stay where you are then stay there, you can still participate with the Venture patrol and you can help to develop their patrol leader by sharing your skills and experience with him.

 

Good Luck,

Bob White

[wojauwe]

Bob,

I know the difference.Not sure I understand why it's called a Venture patrol and not just be called the senior patrol.

I gave the regular Venture suggestion because it sounded as if the troop was not supportive of the direction the patrol would like to go.A crew would be an option.

I don't know about Hotdesk's council but in ours a "Venture" patrol can participate in Council Venture programs,trainings etc. without being registered in Venture.These offer the boys an option focused more towards the older boys.

It would be a much easier option if they could just get help within the troop to offer program for older boys.The logistics of forming a crew would require more human resources.

[Bob White]

Don't know why they would do that the two programs are widely different. different methods, different advancement program, different administrative structures, different leadership positions, different membership requirements. it makes no sense.

 

[wojauwe]

BW

The things that are offered are high adventure events and team building leadership courses that are usefull in both programs.I'm not talking about administrative stuff.

This Summer we had a high adventure race in the Oregon high desert.Biking,backpacking,canoe race and white water rafting.

Interspersed in this was the Kodiak leadership course which

involves team building games.Teams were taken off the clock and got time taken off for sucess in the games.(served a secondary function of allowing staff to apraise the well being of the teams).This was a very challenging event the biking part was 25 miles in the eastern Cascades 2000 ft. elevation gain in one 2 mile section and a good portion of rest of ride was mountain mogul trails.

The event was open to any registered scouts who were between 14 and 21.The teams had to supply their own adult support group

to fit their YP requirements.It was put on by Council level

Venture cabinet.

Was great opportunity for scouts seeking high adventure that was not offered in their troop.Catered well to small group of

older boys.Teams were 4 people.

[Bob White]

"The event was open to any registered scouts who were between 14 and 21."

 

Thanks for the clarification.

BW

[buffalo2]

HotDesk

We've had more success by running our Venture Patrols on an activity basis and letting those Scouts stay in their regular Patrols...

Watch for EagleDad to surface; he's got some good ideas on this topic.

[hotdesk]

Wojauwe wants to know what happened with our SPL problem. Well we decided to hold elections this month (a month ahead of schedule). The SPL also had a discussion with the Scoutmaster to resolve any problems that remained.

 

Now about the Venture Patrol. We took a few steps to solve one of the problems:

 

1. We took out the scouts who didn't want to do the adventure program.

 

2. We elected a patrol leader who wanted to do lead the program with advice from the advisor.

 

3. The patrol leader appointed positions to other scouts.

 

Activities Coordinator:

Make Reservations

Fill out the tour permit

Arrange Transportation

Assistant Patrol Leader:

Assist the Patrol Leader as needed

Supervise other scouts in performing tasks

Patrol Leader

Lead Patrol Meetings

Represent the Patrol at PLC Meetings

Lead patrol during troop activities

Quatermaster

Maintain Patrol Equipment

Suggest Equipment for trips

Find a way to get needed equipment

Treasuer

Set up fees and collect money for outings

 

The only other question for you guys is what should the patrol do???

 

 

 

[wojauwe]

Hotdesk,

I think it's time for you guys to figure out what you want to do as a patrol.I don't think it's us guys place to tell you what to do.It's actually even difficult to suggest anything specific since we don't know your area(at least I don't)Also don't know the people involved.Now's time for your first challenge as a patrol,have a brainstorming meeting get some ideas,pick one and start figuring out how to make it happen.

[Eamonn]

It is late and I know that I'm missing something. The list that you posted isn't helping. The list has things that in a troop setting are things that an adult leader should be doing.

The Venture Patrol is still part of the troop. As such they still work within the framework of the Troop. The Troop Committee is still there and is still the management body.

It seems that what you are doing is trying to set up a unit that is apart from the troop. The role of the Patrol Leader in a Venture Patrol is the same as in the other Patrols.

I can't help wondering what happened to the Scouts that you took out!!

You don't say what age the Scouts are in this Venture Patrol. I only ask as in some Troops Scouts aged 12 are considered older Scouts.

It is hard to answer what does the Patrol do?

A lot depends on what they want to do? How skilled are they in the areas that they want to pursue?

In many Troops the Venture Patrol working with the Troop Leadership will set their sights on doing something and then work on the things they need to do to get ready or good at what their goal was.

For example they might decide that they want to do the trek at Philmont. As they prepare for the trek they would do some hikes, practice cooking on backpacking stoves and that sort of thing. Much of the stuff can be looked at and gone over at the weekly troop meetings. While keeping within a theme. Maybe the troop is doing something with First Aid, the Venture Patrol could still be doing First Aid, but First Aid with a slant that has more to do with Hiking or New Mexico.

Maybe you all need to meet and have a brainstorming session, writing all the ideas down and then working with the adult leadership present the ideas that seem to fit best to the PLC. So it can be included in the annual plan.

Eamonn.

[Yak_Herder]

I wrote this proposal regarding Venture Patrols some time ago. The ideas discussed are being tested in several councils as we speak. At the risk of further muddying the distinctions between a VenturE Patrol and VenturING Crew (something that is not at all clear in this thread), I offer it to you for your benefit.

 

 

The Venture Patrol

 

The Venture Patrol is a little known but highly effective option for Scouters wishing to better address the needs and interests of the older Scouts within the Troop. With so many Senior Scouting options available, why would you want to consider implementing a Venture Patrol? The target audience is already saturated with a host of Scouting options that deeply overlap one another. In addition to simply staying in the Troop and forming a Venture Patrol, Scouts over the age of fourteen have the option of joining a Varsity Team, a Sea Scout Ship or Venturing Crew. Some are given the opportunity to join the Order of the Arrow.

 

Most of these programs are a direct result of Scoutings attempts over the years to address the needs of the older Scouts, something traditional Scouting simply does not do well enough. Very early on, within a couple of years of the Boy Scouting movements founding, Baden-Powell recognized this failing in his program design and organized Sea Scouting. History has demonstrated the majority of older boys need a different Scouting format. But with so many solutions in play, the question remains, Which one?

 

The best answer is often the simplest one.

 

What The Venture Patrol Is

 

A High Adventure Patrol

 

Venture Patrols are such an obscure and underdeveloped segment of Scouting that few Scouters even know that they exist, let alone what they could do with one. When the Venturing program was introduced in 1998, the existing Venture Patrol program began to suffer from the challenge of an identity crisis. The similarity in naming has proven to have be troublesome. Even Scouting veterans misunderstand and inadvertently confuse the terminology. While both Venture Patrols and Venturing are designed to be high adventure programs for older boys, a Venture Patrol is not Venturing.

 

Venture Patrols are unique type of Patrol within a Boy Scout Troop. They are distinguished from other Patrols mainly by what they do. The assumption is made that members of a Venture Patrol have either completed the requirements for rank advancement or are no longer interested in pursuing them. The emphasis is less on activities that yield a diversified education (the merit badge program) and focused more actively on doing and using skills already learned.

 

Little information is given in the current BSA literature describing a Venture Patrol. The Scoutmasters Handbook reads:

A Venture patrol is an optional patrol within the troop made up of Scouts age 13 and older. These troop members have the maturity and experience to take part in more challenging high-adventure outings.

 

Whereas Venturing is a completely separate unit (a Crew), a Venture Patrol is just that; a Patrol forming a part of the Troop. As a Patrol within the Troop, the Venture Patrol utilizes essentially the same uniform, leadership structure and awards as the others in Boy Scouting. Members of a Venture Patrol wear a small patch that reads Venture on their uniform shirt over the Boys Scouts of America program strip. They have an Assistant Scoutmaster that works specifically with their Patrol and their own Venture Patrol Leader who represents them on the Patrol Leaders Council.

 

Venturing, on the other hand, has a unique uniform (if any), a different leadership structure altogether and its own recognitions. While defining Venturing well exceeds the scope of this outline, it must be understood that Venturing is as distinctly different from Boy Scouting as Cub Scouting is. While a Venture Patrol is very similar in its activities, a Venture Patrol remains very much a Boy Scouting program in philosophy and methodology.

 

What The Venture Patrol Can Be

 

A Leadership Patrol

 

There are a number of concepts and ideas floating around from earlier days in Scouting that can find their way into your Venture Patrol. The Pine Tree Patrol, Green Bar Patrol and Leadership Corps of yesteryear are good examples. Each combined the older Scouts within a Troop into the same Patrol. They enjoyed special privileges, but were not snobbish in nature. Being organized this way gave them opportunity to participate in more the challenging activities the Guide to Safe Scouting reserves for those over 14 years of age without involving younger Scouts. They also formed a reservoir of leaders that could be reliably drawn upon by the Troop for ad hoc needs.

 

A Teaching Patrol

 

One of the best ways to allow the Venture Patrol members to become elite without becoming elitist is to give them ample opportunity to serve the balance of the Troop and others. They should be examples, mentors, even leaders to the younger Scouts. Venturing employs this technique with its teaching others method. A Venture Patrol can incorporate that same teaching aspect in to their program.

 

One of the finest leadership positions in Scouting is that of the Troop Guide. In much the same manner in which Venture Patrols suffer from obscurity and lack of use, so does the Troop Guide. Building on the concept of the Leadership Corps, the Venture Patrol and Troop Guides were made for one another. Members of the Venture Patrol who serve as Troop Guides to the younger Scouts, especially the New Scout Patrol, not only provide a valuable service to the Troop but also deepen their own understanding through teaching. In addition, they develop an even greater sense of self-worth as they begin to appreciate their contribution to the program and a better sense of their own abilities. Most young men begin to value the attendant rewards of that service more than the recreational pleasure or personal accomplishment that results from participation in the high adventure activities. The rewards of service through teaching, more than any other factor, improves retention.

 

A Bridging Patrol

 

Scouting learned long ago the value of a bridging unit. Retention in Scouting was significantly improved when the Webelos program was introduced, better tying Cub Scouting to Boy Scouting. Rather than simply relying on the boys to find their own way from the Pack to the Troop, Webelos points the boys directly at it. Scouting should have a similar means of pointing the young men towards Venturing.

 

Venturing is far more than just Scouting for older boys. But it is no less a step beyond Scouting. No formal means currently exists for transitioning boys from the Scout Troop to the Venturing Crew.

When utilized as a bridging unit, the unfortunate names of Venture Patrols and Venturing Crews (further compounded by the outdated terminology associated with the now discontinued Venture Crew) can be leveraged to reinforce the idea of a transition from Scouting to Venturing. While presently a stumbling block for even veteran Scouters, the terminology can become quite serviceable if the Venture Patrol is considered a step towards Venturing rather than merely another high adventure program.

 

Proposed Changes

 

A unique Look

 

Members of a Venture Patrol require a uniform that distinctly sets them apart from the rest of the troop. There are many factors at work within the mind of a 14-year-old by that leads to this conclusion. The strongest of these is a general desire to disassociate themselves with the little kids in the Troop. This is the age when most are beginning to High School. They are struggling to join with their older High School peers and resist anything that pulls in the other direction. The tan/green uniform of Boy Scouting has that affect.

 

Furthermore, they are becoming very image conscious. Many become embarrassed when identified as a Boy Scout. When this happens, rather than resent it, a wise Scoutmaster observing this behavior will understand it is an important insight into a young mans life and adjust accordingly. Uniforms remain no less an important tool, but a greater effort and more clever means will then be required to maintain its effectiveness.

 

Another reality is the physical growth a young man experiences in his teen-age years. Most of them are wearing the same uniform shirt they got when they joined Boy Scouting. About the time he turns fourteen it becomes too small and uncomfortable. A new uniform has to be purchased. Most are unwilling to spend money on another shirt that they dont want to wear for reasons already discussed.

 

Part of the success of earlier Senior Scouting programs had to do with an associated eligibility to wear a special uniform. They thereby took on a look that set them apart from the younger Scouts, often with uniforming details that more closely paralleled an adult Scouter. This is a simple but important aspect of Scouting that should not be overlooked today.

One solution is to allow them to wear the green/gray Venturing uniform. If they eventually move on to the Venturing Crew, chances are they will want to purchase one. Since the need to buy a new uniform generally exists anyway, thriftiness suggests it be the Venturing uniform.

 

With that, some method of distinguishing members of the Venture Patrol from a Venturing Crew is required. Taking a cue from what Cub Scouting is doing with the Webelos uniform, the simplest and most consistent practice would be to wear Boy Scoutings red shoulder loops rather than Venturings green ones.

With the permission of the Council Executive, an experiment utilizing this uniforming practice has been shown to be highly successful.

 

Enhanced recognition

 

Interest in Scouting advancement and rank among Venture Patrol members will vary greatly. Some will be Eagle Scouts looking for additional challenges. Some will want to complete their efforts to earn an Eagle Scout Award. Others will no longer be interested in advancement. All of these needs can be accommodated simultaneously with a modest modification.

 

A focus on high adventure activity should provide ample activity to anyone not interested in rank advancement and plenty of opportunity to anyone wishing to accomplish rank advancement to do so. However, those looking for additional challenges and awards will be short-changed. The recognitions available through Venturing are not available to them unless they join a Venturing Crew.

 

Little merit is seen in this restriction. Since the majority of the experiences they will enjoy as members of a Venture Patrol will directly parallel those of a Venturing Crew, reason dictates that they be eligible to earn a limited amount of Venturing Awards. Rather that contribute to what could only become feelings of resentment by forcing them to repeat the same activities as Venturers later in order to be given the same recognition, allowance should be provided for members of a Venture Patrol to earn Venturing Bronze Awards.

 

Dual Registration

 

It is possible today to sidestep the need for either of these changes to the program by simply dual-registering the boy as a Scout and Venturer and gaining the permission of the local Council Executive wear the Venturing uniform as described.

 

Scouting would be better served by publishing an enhanced definition of Venture Patrols as outlined in this document.

 

What A Venture Patrol Can Really Be

 

A Saving Patrol

 

Combining all the aspects of what a Venture Patrol is and what it could be, the Venture Patrol becomes a powerful tool in skilled hands to keep boys in Scouting. Far beyond a simple high adventure group, the Venture Patrol can take on the mission of the Leadership Corps while functioning as something like an In Troop version of Venturing, ready and willing to serve the Troop and others.

 

Whether the young men remain in the Troop or join a Crew, they are no less members of the Boy Scouts of America. The longer they remain members, whatever the unit, the more opportunities Scouters have to positively affect the lives of the young man and the greater the young mans ability to return service to others. This expanded use of the Venture Patrol contributes positively towards those goals.