Ever scratch your head and think, “What are they talking about? Learn the 411 about SM, ASM, CM, SPL, JASM, YPT, YIS and lots of other short phrases in the BSA.
Show Notes:
- Abbreviations and Acronyms (BSA.org)
- Glossary of Acronyms (USSSP)
Transcript:
I have been involved with the scouting program for quite a while, and every so often something new comes up that really makes you think.
On a facebook scouting message board a new visitor was complaining about everyone’s use of acronyms as they refered to different programs, and parts. An acronym for those that don’t know is a set of letters that abbreviate a longer set of words, like USA for United States of America, or in this case BSA for Boy Scouts of America.
This really through me for a loop, as what I do for a living is consult, comment and improve the User Experience, and this is one thing we generally attack first, as it is known as a barrier to understanding.
This all brings me to a fun scoutmasterDave to showcase some of the more common acronyms. Pass it along to someone new to the program and I’m sure they will appreciate it…
Starting with some cub scout ones you have. CS. That’s cub scout or cub scouts. More commonly they are referred to as cubs or more generically scouts.
The most common spoken acronym in cub scouts however has to be AOL or Arrow of Light, which is the highest rank in the Cub Scout Program. Earning Arrow of light lets a cub scout transition to boy scouts at 10 ½ years old.
You also get some less common ones in cubs like DL, that’s den leader, and WDL which is a webelos den leader.
WEBELOS is actually an acronym that is treated as a real word. Webelos is WE BE LOYAL SCOUTS. – Webelos is not a dictionary word for some mythical creature.
Boy scouts is also fraught with acronyms including BS for boy scouts, SM for scoutmaster, ASM for assistant scoutmaster and CO for Chartered Organization. Most often you will see these written for shorthand.
There is also CC for committee chair. MB for Merit Badge. A merit badge are awards earned by boy scouts. based on activities within the area of study by completing a list of requirements.
One of the ones more commonly spoken is SPL which is senior patrol leader, this is the boy that has been tasked to lead the troop, or PL which is patrol leader, the boy that leads a group of boys called a patrol. A troop is made up of one or more patrols.
JASM, is Junior Assistant Scoutmaster, QM is quartermaster (the guy that handles the gear),
OA is also a commonly spoken one, which refers to the Order of the Arrow, which is an honor society within the Boy Scout program.
You also have BOR or Board of Review, and the less common EBOR which is Eagle Board of review. Theses boards of review is part of the advancement process in boy scouts.
In the training realm there is a lot of them, the most common in order that scouts take them are Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops (ILST), National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT), and National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience (NAYLE)
There are also some general scouting ones like GTA of Guide to Advancement, which is a Boy Scout publication on advancement within the program. And G2SS, another publication called the Guide to Safe Scouting. Sometimes this call also be seen as GTSS.
At a district level you will sometimes see DAC – District Advancement Committee, DAM, which is the district award of merit, RT, which is Round Table.
DE is a common one for District Executive; he’s your go-to guy at council. SE is the Scout Executive, that’s his boss. WB is woodbadge, which is an adult advanced training program.
Rounding the list out, we have YPT, or Youth Protection Training, JOTA, which is Jamboree-on-the-Air – a ham radio thing, and BALOO Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation.
I’ll send this with a common one used in signature, YIS, or Yours in Scouting.
Take what you like and leave the rest, and as we say in Woodbadge, feedback is a gift, leave yours below in the comments, with the hope we can all learn together.
I’m Scoutmaster Dave, and this all about acronyms.
