07 The Patrol Spirit

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1. Patrol System
02 The Patrol Leader And Second
03 How Can A Leader Lead?
04 When Should A Leader Lead?
05 Privileges Of A Patrol Leader
06 Court Of Honor
07 The Patrol Spirit
08 Patrol Discipline
09 Patrol Instruction In Second Class Work
10 Patrol Instruction In Proficiency Badges
11 Patrol In Council
12 Patrol Competitions
13 The Patrol At Play
14 Patrol Good Turns
15 Inter-Patrol Visiting
16. Patrol In Camp
17. Difficulties
How To Start A Troop On The Patrol System

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The previous chapters have dealt with the matter of putting the Leader in a position to lead his Patrol, but beyond this both the Leader and the Scoutmaster should do everything to foster the Patrol Spirit. The Patrol Spirit means that each boy in the Patrol feels that he is an essential part of a complete and self-contained unit-a body in which every member is expected to carry out his own individual part in order to attain the perfection and completeness of the whole.

When a boy becomes a Scout by taking the Promise he is brought up to the Scoutmaster by his prospective Patrol Leader. Until he has taken the Promise he cannot, theoretically, be in a Patrol at all, as a Patrol can only contain Scouts, and he is not yet a Scout. After taking the Promise he enters his Patrol as a member. After the investiture ceremony in Scouting for Boys it states that "The new Scout and his Patrol Leader march back to their Patrol." Instead of being merely a boy, the new Scout now becomes an Elephant, or a Crocodile, or even a Wood-pigeon or Cuckoo. He must not only be a Cuckoo, but he must learn a Cuckoo's habits at once. He begins by learning his Patrol call. He must make it sufficiently audibly to be heard and recognized fifty yards away in a wood. The Patrol call is for use and should be used as often as possible. The importance of being a Cuckoo is emphasized by the Chief Scour when he says that "No Scout is allowed to imitate a call of any Patrol except his own." The idea is that a Wolf is telling a lie if he pretends to be a Lamb, and a Scout's honor is to be trusted even though he be a Fox. After learning the call of his Patrol the new Scout will learn the habits of his Patrol animal or Patrol bird. He will also learn how to sign his name, which necessitates his being able to draw a picture of his Patrol emblem. This is only an elementary way of realizing the Patrol Spirit, but in scouting tiny things must never be ignored.

Another thing recommended by the Chief Scout is that each Patrol should have its motto, invented, if possible, by the boys themselves. The Bulldog Patrol, for instance, may have the motto, "Plucky but Plain," and the Frogs, "We are not Croakers though we Croak." Another way of making the Patrol realize its identity is by having a special portion of the headquarters accommodation allotted to each Patrol. Some Troops are sufficiently fortunate to be able to have each Patrol working in a different room. Usually, however, the Troop only has the use of one room, and in this case it is a good thing to allocate a special corner or portion of the room to each Patrol. That is to say that when one of the Eagles turns up at his Troop Headquarters at 8 o'clock on parade night he goes straight to the "Eagles' Nest," as the Patrol corner may be called. (A Fox would go to the Fox's Earth or a Lion to the Lion's Den.) If the Headquarters belongs to the boys themselves, each corner may be suitably decorated. The Patrols will probably put up pegs for their hats and coats, and a rack for their staves. 

It may be objected that some rooms are so small that it is impossible to allocate a portion to each Patrol. This will probably mean that the Headquarters accommodation is inadequate for the Troop. The Scoutmaster should have avoided this by limiting the number of his boys according to the size of the premises in which he intended to train them. However, there is no reason at all why all the Patrols should meet on the same evening. Three of them may meet on Tuesdays and Fridays, and three more on Mondays and Thursdays. The whole Troop in this case only assemble together on Saturday afternoons, and possibly for a "Scouts' Own" on Sundays. ("Scouts' Own" is the term generally given to a Troop Service or Bible Class.)