Scouting Glossary for Parents

Scouting has a language of its own, and a new family hears most of it in the first few months: at meetings, in emails and on trip pages. This page explains those words in a line or two each, grouped by where you will meet them. Where a word has a page of its own on this site, the definition links there.

If your family is new to Troop 23, start with our Welcome page, which puts the first month in order.

Names and Organizations

• Scouting America — the national organization, called the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) until 2025.
• Scouts BSA — Scouting America's program for young people aged 11 to 17, the one a troop runs. Until 2019 it was called Boy Scouts.
• Cub Scouts — the program for kindergarten through fifth grade, run in packs. Cub Scout Pack 23, a separate pack, also meets at Our Lady of Angels on Monday evenings.
• Troop — a Scouts BSA unit, made up of patrols and run by its Scouts with adult leaders.
• Council — Scouting America's local organization for an area. Ours is Greater New York Councils (GNYC), which also runs camps the troop goes to, among them Alpine, Pouch and Ten Mile River.
• OLA — Our Lady of Angels, the Bay Ridge parish where Troop 23 has met since 1946.

People in a Troop

• Patrol — a small team of Scouts who camp, cook and work together. Every Scout belongs to one (our patrols).
• Patrol leader (PL) — the Scout who leads a patrol.
• Senior patrol leader (SPL) — the Scout who leads the whole troop, with an assistant senior patrol leader (ASPL).
• Patrol Leaders' Council (PLC) — the patrol leaders and the SPL, who plan the troop's meetings and trips each month with the Scoutmaster.
• Troop Guide — an older Scout who mentors younger Scouts and helps them advance.
• Quartermaster — the Scout who looks after the troop's equipment and checks it in and out for trips.
• Scoutmaster, assistant Scoutmaster (ASM) — the adult leaders, who coach the Scouts who run the troop (ours).
• Troop Committee — the adults who take care of everything outside the program itself: troop money, fundraising, membership, permits, advancement records and equipment (more in the Parent Guide).
• Merit badge counselor — a registered adult who works with a Scout on one merit badge subject (our counselors).

Trips

• Tripmaster — the person in charge of one particular trip, from the reservation to the ride home (how trips are run).
• Grubmaster — the Scout in charge of a patrol's meals on a trip: the meal plan, the ingredients and the cooking gear.
• Duty roster — the list of who does which job in a patrol on a trip, set by the patrol leader (ours).
• Permission slip — the form a parent signs for each activity away from the Monday meeting. At Troop 23 it is handed in on paper, never sent electronically (Parent Guide).
• AHMR — the Annual Health and Medical Record, Scouting America's health form. Parts A and B are needed for every trip. Part C, a physical exam on the Scouting form, is added for summer camp and for trips longer than 72 hours; a school or sports physical does not count.
• Totin' Chip, Firem'n Chit — a new Scout's first two safety cards: knives, saws and axes, and fire.
• What's Due — at Troop 23, the list of upcoming deadlines on our home page; each trip's page has its own.

Ranks and Awards

• Advancement — earning ranks, merit badges and awards (how it works at Troop 23).
• Ranks — Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life and Eagle (every rank and its requirements).
• Eagle Scout — the highest rank. Besides merit badges and leadership, it asks for a service project the Scout plans and leads (our Eagle Scouts).
• Merit badge — a badge earned in one subject, from Camping to Chemistry, worked on with a counselor.
• Position of responsibility — a troop job such as patrol leader, scribe or quartermaster. Star, Life and Eagle each ask for months of service in one.
• Scoutmaster conference — a one-to-one talk with the Scoutmaster before each new rank.
• Board of review — three to six adults who talk with a Scout before each rank from Tenderfoot on. Parents do not sit on their own child's board or attend it.
• Court of Honor — the evening when awards are presented, with families invited (at Troop 23).

Uniform, Training and Apps

• Class A, Class B — everyday names for the field uniform (the tan shirt) and the activity uniform (the troop T-shirt) (what Troop 23 wears when).
• SYT — Safeguarding Youth Training, Scouting America's online training on keeping young people safe. It replaced Youth Protection Training (YPT) in 2025. At Troop 23, every adult who comes to a campsite needs it, drivers and day visitors included.
• Registered adult — an adult member of Scouting America. Only registered adults may stay overnight at a Scouts BSA activity (how to register).
• Scoutbook — Scouting America's online system for advancement, the troop calendar and RSVPs, used through Scoutbook Plus in a browser or the Scouting app.

Last reviewed October 2026. Missing a word you heard from us? Tell us through our contact page, and we'll add it.