Wood Badge
The highest-level training program for adult Scout leaders. It is a serious commitment, and the people who have done it will tell you it changed how they lead — inside Scouting and out.
Dates and registration are on the council calendar.
View the East Texas Area Council calendar → (opens in a new tab)
Both weekends are required. Wood Badge is a single course delivered across two separate weekends, several weeks apart. You must attend both — the second weekend builds directly on the first, and there is no way to make up a missed weekend later. Check both dates against your calendar before you register.
Who it's for
Registered adult leaders in any program — Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing, Sea Scouts — and council and district volunteers. You should have completed the basic training for your position first.
What it actually is
Wood Badge is leadership training that happens to be set at a Scout camp. The content is about leading people: listening, giving feedback, developing a team, managing conflict, coaching, and understanding why groups behave the way they do.
You are placed in a patrol for the duration of the course, and you live the model rather than sit through it — the first weekend you are a Cub Scout den, and by the end you are operating as a Venturing crew. Watching your own patrol move through the stages of team development is the lesson.
The ticket
At the end of the course you write a ticket: a set of personal goals that apply what you learned back in your unit, district or council. It is not busywork. A good ticket commits you to specific, useful things you would not otherwise have done.
You have 18 months from the end of the course to work your ticket, with a Troop Guide supporting you. When you complete it, you are presented with the Wood Badge beads — and that presentation, not the course itself, is the finish line.
What to expect on course
- Full days, early starts, and evenings that run long
- Camping at GWP with your patrol
- Cooking, presenting, and being given real responsibility
- Field uniform for much of the course
- More reflection and more note-taking than most adults expect
What to bring
The course sends a detailed participant packet after you register. In general: complete field uniform, camping gear for the season, work clothes, rain gear, a notebook, and a current BSA health and medical record.
Cost
The course fee covers both weekends, meals and materials, and is published with the event on the council calendar. Some units and districts help fund leaders through Wood Badge — it is worth asking.
Documents
Leader guides, forms and packing lists for this program are posted here as they are released. In the meantime, the council calendar (opens in a new tab) listing has the current paperwork.
Ready to sign up?
Registration for every Camp Pirtle program is handled on the East Texas Area Council event calendar.