Prior to the organization of Scout Councils, little or no training was made available to volunteer leaders. The only information they had available to them was the Boy Scout Handbook and the Scoutmaster's Handbook.

As soon as a council was chartered, the very first thing they scheduled was training for the leaders.  In the Eastland County Council training was conducted in Eastland, Cisco and Ranger for three months, then four troops were organized in each town in April 1926.

The same thing happened in the Pecan Valley Council.  In April 1928, four in-door sessions of training were held in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church in Brownwood followed by three outdoor sessions held at the troop cabin at Lakewood.  Thirty-three men showed up at the first session.  They were welcomed by the Council President, John L. Starkie.

College of Commissioner Science

Roy Curbo of Brownwood was the first Commissioner to take advantage of a new Commissioner Training Course called the “Texas Trails College of Commissioner Science” being offered at Camp Tonkawa south of Abilene in May of 1983.  Five Boy Scout councils came together to provide this weekend course for their Commissioner Staff.  The councils were Buffalo Trail, Comanche Trail, Chisholm Trail, Concho Valley and Llano Estacado.  Dale B. Brannom, M. D. was the Dean of the College. In 1984 the college was offered at Hughes Aquatic Base in Colorado City, Texas.  It was held at one of the two camps for several years, and at one time was held at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo. 

Later, Llano Estacado dropped out when they started offering their own course, but the remaining four councils have held the course for seventeen years now.  The course was eventually moved from Camp Tonkawa to Colorado City and the Hughes Aquatic Base in 1990. The course was held at Hughes Aquatic Base until it was moved back to Camp Tonkawa in 2001.  It was held there again in 2002 but was moved to Camp Wood Lake Girl Scout Camp on Lake Brownwood in 2003.  Normally the course is held the third full weekend in February.

Roy Curbo competed the requirements for his Master’s and Doctor of Commissioner Science.  David Cleveland, Council Commissioner, served as the Dean of the College of Commissioner Science in 1996 and 1997.  Many of our Scouters still serve on the staff of the college.

Those who have earned their Doctorate Degree in the College of Commissioner Science are:

Roy Curbo - 1993
Clinton Lovelace - 1993
Donald F. Smith - 1993
Melvin Wende - 1993
David H. Cleveland -1994
Marc W. Griffin - 1994
Robert B. Rider - 1994
Mildred Sullivan - 1994
Stanley W. Walker, Jr. - 1994
Vince S.  Ariaz - 1996
Hilda K. Griffin - 1996
Larry D. Smith - 1996
Walter Walske - 1996
 

Timber Tag

Timber Tag was the name given to a Basic Boy Scout Leaders Training Course held in the Chisholm Trail Council, Abilene, and is still in use there today. The first Timber Tag training in the Comanche Trail Council was held October 2, 1968, with two patrols.

The first training group was called Timber Tag Troop 1. Several members of the Chisholm Trail Council Timber Tag Training Team assisted in the course which was headed  by Werner Bendorf as Scoutmaster, Neal Pepper as Senior Patrol Leader and Walter Walske as Assistant Senior Patrol Leader.

Timber Tag Troop 2 was held in February and March of 1969.  The fee was $6.  The Scoutmaster was Neal Pepper.  Timber Tag Training was a normal part of this council’s training program through 1978.  Timber Tag Troop 8 was the last Timber Tag training group held.

Junior Leader Training

Youth leaders in Boy Scouts needed to be trained as much as adults.  Even when the Brownwood Council was chartered, a series of meetings were held with the Patrol Leaders and Assistants by the Scout Executive to teach organizational skills and First Aid.  Annual Junior Leader Training was held in the council starting in 1958 which usually involved a weekend of indoor training followed by a weekend of outdoor training several months later.

Sixty Junior Leaders attended a Junior Leader Training Conference at Tarleton College in Stephenville in the fall of 1964 and then attended the outdoor session at Eastland that spring.

Many weekend Junior Leader Training Courses have been held for the boy leaders of Scout troops in the council.  In  1992, the council co-sponsored with the Chisholm Trail Council, a one-week training experience called Eagle Mountain.  Chisholm Trail Council had conducted the course at Camp Tomkawa for many years.  However, they were not able to sign up enough Scouts to continue so they invited Comanche Trail Council to join them so that enough Scouts could be recruited to have the course.

This first course, hosted by the Chisholm Trail Council, was held at Camp Billy Gibbons on August 2 to 8, 1992.  The Scouts cooked all their meals, participated in Scout skills, were trained in many leadership skills and went on an overnight camping trip.

Forty-three Scouts from four Councils participated. Ronnie Cheek of Abilene served as Scoutmaster.  Dale Carpenter, Burton Phillips, Charles Allen, Don Beach, Stephenville; Tom Ponder and Reve Ponder, Brownwood, served as adult staff members.  Ty Turner and Michael Beach served as youth staff members. Scouts from Troops 1, 14 and 68 attended from Comanche Trail.

The course was held again in 1993 on July 18 - 24, and twenty-one Scouts from four Councils participated that year.  Burton Phillips of Stephenville served as Scoutmaster and was assisted by Dale Carpenter of Stephenville and Cathy Maples of Lampasas.  This year, Scouts from Troops 17, 39, 68 and 99 participated in the course.

The course had to be canceled in 1994 for lack of participation.  So far, another one-week course has not been scheduled.

However, in the fall of 1994 a combined Scoutmaster's Outdoor Training and Junior Leader Training weekend was held at Camp Billy Gibbons.  Bob Rider was Scoutmaster of the Scoutmaster's Outdoor and Chris Firth was Scoutmaster of the Junior Leader Training.  The two groups camped separately but had many activities together.  Each group cooked by patrols.  Twenty-three Junior Leaders participated in that part of the training.

A Junior Leader Training weekend was held at Lake Proctor the weekend of October 12-13, 1996.  Pat Leatherwood served as Scoutmaster of the course with Mitchell B. Newell and Billy E. Rogers helping.  A second Junior Leader Training weekend was held at Lake Proctor the weekend of September 25-27, 1998 with thirty-four participating.   Serving on this staff were Dale Carpenter, Scoutmaster; J. Davidson, John Seifert and Roy Carpenter as Assistant Scoutmasters; and Aaron Carpenter, Senior Patrol Leader.  Once again they also had Troop Adult Leader Outdoor Training at the same time.  As far as we know, this was the last time Comanche Trail Council had a Junior Leader Training weekend.

Wood Badge

Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, realized that in order for the Scouting program to develop it would be necessary to have knowledgeable adult leaders.  In 1911 he first undertook the training of leaders by beginning a series of lectures.  By 1919 his program for training adult leaders had become known as Wood Badge.  This name was derived from the wooden bead which each participant was given upon completing the course.  Baden-Powell wanted each participant to have a fitting recognition.  He remembered the necklace of wooden beads he had captured from an African chieftain, whom he admired greatly, and the name Wood Badge continues today.

These training courses were originally held in Gilwell Park, England, and are still offered there today.  At that time they were known as the “Scout Officers’ Training Course.”  The beads were presented at that first course.  The Gilwell scarf did not appear until 1921 with the tartan patch.

When Wood Badge first came to the United States one could only take it at Schiff Scout Reservation or at Philmont Scout Ranch.  The first Wood Badge Course under BSA leadership was conducted at Schiff from July 31 to August 8, 1948, with Bill Hillcourt as Deputy Camp Chief.  The second course was held at Philmont Scout Ranch in October 1948.  For the first ten years of Wood Badge, the basis of instruction was to train men to serve as Council Scout Trainers.

Buffalo Trail, Comanche Trail, Concho Valley and Chisholm Trail Councils joined together to have a Wood Badge Course for the four councils.  They are still being held at various camps within now the three councils (Chisholm Trail and Comanche Trail consolidated to form the Texas Trails Council on January 1, 2003), with each council helping to provide staff for the course.

Only Wood Badge Course at Camp Billy Gibbons

Wood Badge Course  SR-379 was the one and only course held at Camp Billy Gibbons.  It was held the weekends of  August 26-29, September 8-10 and September 22-24, 2000.  Marc W. Griffin served as Course Scoutmaster.  Thirty-eight participants took part in the course from four councils, with three participants not finishing and two not completing their ticket.  The councils were Capitol Area Council, Chisholm Trail Council, Concho Valley Council and Comanche Trail Council.

Staff members of SR-379 were  Marc W. Griffin, Scoutmaster; Don Beach, Asst. Scoutmaster - Physical Arrangements; Debra Bean, Asst. Scoutmaster - Program; Larry D. Smith, Senior Patrol Leader; Aivars Jurkis, Asst. Senior Patrol Leader; Jim DeWitt, Quartermaster; Carl Parker, Quartermaster; Hilda K. Griffin, Asst. Quartermaster; Pam Barnes, Troop Guide; Leroy Forbes, Troop Guide; Bob Rider, Troop Guide; Shirley Teague, Troop Guide; Wilson VanLoon, Troop Guide; and Polly Vaughn, Troop Guide

According to council records the following Scouters of this council have taken Wood Badge.
Key:  R- Region 9   SC - South Central Region
SR - Southern Region  WB - National Course
WM - Philmont