1st Bullsbrook Air Scout Group
The Scout Method
 Patrol System
"The Patrol Method is not ONE method in which Scouting can be carried on. It is the ONLY method!"
 --Roland Phillips
The only way to develop leadership in a young person is to give him/her a chance to practice it. The Patrol method provides this practice by placing upon the young persons themselves the responsibility of running their own gangs, of making them—or breaking them. It gives them the opportunity to lead. It brings forward those of decided leadership abilities and awakens in others their latent powers. It gives to all of them their chance.
The Patrol system means much more than the division of a troop into roughly equal groups under the leadership of one of their own number – the Patrol Leader. It means that these Patrols must provide the whole working basis of the Troop; the unit of work, of play, of competition. It means that, in order to succeed, the Patrol and the Patrol Leaders must be trusted to get on with the job and to learn through their own errors. It means that the Scout Leaders must be prepared to stand back, ready to assist when assistance is needed, but never interfering unnecessarily.
To succeed in this, the Patrol Leader must be given special training for the task, which is to lead the Patrol in all things. He is expected to train them for many of the Badge requirements and in some instances to evaluate them. The Patrol Leader is expected to represent the Scouts on the Troop Council, the ‘committee’ through which the Patrol Leaders, with the guidance of the Scout Leaders, run the Troop. This is a challenging task, but not an impossible one, since the Patrol Leader is not regarded as a born leader but as a young person in training for leadership. Since the exercise of responsibility has a tremendous effect on character formation, this aspect of the Scout Method is vastly more important than acquiring technical skills. It is an experience which, as far as possible, every young person should at some stage enjoy.
Through the Patrol Meeting (a meeting of the Patrol to plan its own affairs) and the Troop Council, the Scout’s point of view must always be in the forefront. The adult leader merely guides, but does not dictate, unless what is proposed by the Scouts is contrary to Scout policy or is likely to involve undue risks.
A Troop is not divided into Patrols. A Troop is the sum total of its Patrols.