13th Edition

The new 2016 13th Edition of the Boy Scout Handbook should be in the hands of every new scout joining your troop this year. The new edition made what I believe to be some nice improvements, along with just a couple things not so much.

• The distracting background images found on most pages are gone. This makes it much easier to read the crisper, black text.
• Overlapping, skewed, faded out images are replaced with bold, obvious, correctly oriented images. This draws attention to the image as a helpful device rather than a decoration.
• Each topic chapter lists the advancement requirements covered in the chapter. This is nice, but I doubt will be used much because...
• The requirements list for each rank in the back of the handbook had page numbers where info for that requirement is found. The page numbers are gone.
• It's only 10 pages longer than the previous edition, but the heavier paper makes it bulkier.

How's It Going?

So, how are those new 2016 Boy Scout requirements going over in your troop?

Certainly by now, the scoutmaster has met with the senior patrol leader to explain the changes.
And, the SPL has passed on the new expectations to his PLC.
And, the Patrol Leaders have discussed the changes with their patrols at a patrol meeting recently.
And, Troop Guides and Instructors are ready to teach skills for the requirements to new scouts.
All the scouts are now working the new requirements.
The troop's advancement chair has explained the changes to the troop committee and interested adults.
The scoutmaster met with his/her assistants and everyone is aware of the new requirements.
If all that has not yet happened in your troop, (alarms blaring, red lights flashing) your next troop meeting and committee meeting should be dedicated to those items!

Transition Time

2016 is a transition year for the new requirements.

• Scouts joining a troop after December 31, 2015 must use the new requirements.
• Scouts working on Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class in 2015 may continue to use the old requirements up to First Class. They must use new requirements for Star rank and above.
• Scouts working on Star, Life, or Eagle on December 31, 2015 may complete that specific rank using the old requirements. They must use new requirements for all subsequent ranks.

Starting on January 1, 2017, all scouts must use the new requirements for all rank advancement. For example, if they are a Second Class scout nearly done with the old First Class, they must convert to the new requirements.

Even though some scouts don't have to use the new requirements this year, it makes sense to have just about everyone use them. Those few scouts with just a couple requirements left for a rank should finish up, and then use the new requirements from then on. But, it's up to the scout to decide.

Little Help Here

There are two documents that may be useful for scouts managing their advancement during the transition:

• Requirements Comparison
• 8-page Requirements Insert

For your Troop Guides teaching scouts the skills for advancement, these documents might be useful:

• First Class First Year schedule
• Troop Guide Handbook
• First Class Tracking Chart

I believe the relevant pages of Boy Scout Trail have been updated to the 2016 requirements. If you find some that are outdated, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

Scout On,
Scouter Paul