Item Name: Junior Assistant Scoutmaster 1943 - 1945
Item ID: JASMB-1-4-2
Collector Rating: 1
Qualification and Duties Fall 1936 – September 1945
A First Class Scout 16 years of age or older may be appointed as Junior Assistant Scoutmaster. A warrant is issued by the Local Council upon the recommendation of the Scoutmaster and the Troop Committee.
This optional rank may be utilized to provide for Assistant Scoutmaster service to the Scoutmaster in cases where there are no men eligible for commissions as Assistant Scoutmasters, or when there are not sufficient Assistant Scoutmasters and where ineffective service can be rendered by a First Class Scout under 18 years of age.
The office of Junior Assistant Scoutmaster may also be used for the purpose of holding the interest of First Class Scouts, 16 years of age of or over, as an expert instructors or for the other service to the troop, but not to perform the usual executive duties of Assistant Scoutmasters.
There is no limit to the number of Junior Assistant Scoutmasters which a Troop may have. They pay the same registration fee as other Scouts and are registered on the regular blanks like other Scouts, with a notation after their names indicating their office. They have the privilege, however of wearing the same uniform as a scouter.
Specific duties of this officer may be:
Game leadership. In this capacity he helps plan games for the game periods of all the meetings and hikes and has charge of the Troop during this period in Troop meetings, securing in advance such materials or equipment as are needed and staging the games.
Instruction in special Scout Requirements in which he excels and coaching of Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class Scouts.
Outdoor Activities Director, giving help whenever possible to the Patrols, as well as actively directing arrangements for Troop hikes and camps.
Contest Leader, arranging for Patrol contest in Scout craft, stunts, yells, special feats.
Drill Master in charge of practice at meetings and execution on hikes and parades.
Troop Librarian, Troop Scribe, Troop Quartermaster.
Editor of Troop Bulletin, Press Club member, and correspondent for community newspapers.
He may also be put in charge of certain Troop projects that arise from time to time such as Troop Good Turns, the decoration of the meeting room, the investigation of appropriate campsites and hike routes, and the like.
It is essential that the Junior Assistant Scoutmaster be given an off to do to keep his interest in the Troop and the community. He is at the age where he may decide to be a Scoutmaster when his time comes, or to drop out entirely. If he decides in favor of the first, in a great many cases he will apply for his assistance's commission when he is 18 and later become Scoutmaster. His interest should be kept burning and he should be made to feel that the Troop needs his services.