Twin Arrow Helps Scoutmasters Train Leaders




Twin Arrow is Council training provided to supplement leadership development provided by the home Scoutmaster.

 What is the role of the Scoutmaster in the Troop?

(To train Youth Leaders)  

 Where should the Scoutmasters actually do their work?

(Wherever they meet with scouts)  

LHC-Twin Arrow 


Scoutmaster’s Youth Leader Training Kit - A one day introduction to basic troop leadership skills

Twin Arrow - An intensive one week program in leadership skills

Twin Arrow is:

  • A highly structured program
  • Based on month in the life of a troop
  • Leadership development - Fills some requirements for rank advancement

Twin Arrow is not:

  • Scoutcraft
    • Summer camp
    • Merit badges
    • Hiking 
    • Aquatics
    • R & R
      • Fishing
      • Hiking
      • C.O.P.E.

      Twin Arrow:

      • Based on current national standards of leadership training
      • Includes Ethics In Action and Leave No Trace Camping principles
      • Provides introductory experience with G.P.S. navigation in the woods

      Let us take a quick look at the historical development of the Twin Arrow Training Conference.

      • Brownsea Double Two - mostly used Scoutcraft Skills
      • 1974 Troop Leader Development – Introduction of Leadership Skills
      • 1991 Junior Leader Training Conference (JLTC) - A new syllabus brings a fresh emphasis on advanced leadership training for youth
      • 1993 JLTC revised to include Ethics In Action, Reflections, and Safe Haven
      • 2005 Twin Arrow - A new syllabus bring state-fo-the-art leadership training to youth leaders in the Greater Pittsburgh Council

      The Structure of Twin Arrow

      • Weeklong experience
      • Provides a toolbox of resources, skills and techniques for Troop leadership
      • Scoutcraft skiills used in some leadership exercises
      • To assist home Scoutmaster to provide a quality program (especially if the Scoutmaster is Wood Badge Trained)
      • To give scouts an opportunity to share experiences with other (different) troop leaders – both youth and adult.
      • Scouts are assigned to patrols based upon age, rank, home troop, and district.

      General Principles:

      • The principle responsibility and privilege of a Scoutmaster is to TRAIN YOUTH LEADERS, therefore the Twin Arrow Conference is a “supplement” to the Scoutmaster’s training.
      • The participants represent their home troops. They must have a Boy Scout shirt with their home troop insignia on it; the uniform should conform to the BSA Insignia Guide.

      Who should attend the Twin Arrow?

      • The Twin Arrow Conference is designed for Troop Youth Leaders, ALL TROOP YOUTH LEADERS
      • It is important that the attendees do not attend prematurely EITHER BY AGE OR RANK
      • THEY SHOULD BE 13 YEARS OF AGE AND BE FIRST CLASS OR ABOVE
      • All participants must be experienced Scout campers. They must already know how to set up camp, prepare meals, maintain personal and campsite cleanliness, and generally work in a patrol camping situation
      • It is not appropriate to send a boy who has never camped without a parent to Twin Arrow

      Twin Arrow recognition

      • Twin Arrow PATCH (one of the few insignia which can be worn on an adult uniform).
      • A certificate of completion
      • A personal evaluation of leadership skills by the Twin Arrow staff

      In summary, the Twin Arrow experience is:

      Leadership Development Skills represented by start of the art, modern leadership skill presentations. A few highlights of the course are the Overnight camp, the course feast and the Ballista battle.

      Click here to be redirected to the Registration page for the 2013 Twin Arrow - National Youth Leadership Training Conference.