The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 762,000 youth participants. The BSA was founded in 1910; about 110 million Americans have participated in its programs. BSA became a founding member organization of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922.
The Tribe of Mic-O-Say is an honor society used by two local councils of the Boy Scouts of America, the Pony Express Council at Camp Geiger Reservation, and the Heart of America Council at the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation. Similar programs exist or have existed in multiple other councils as well. The Tribe of Mic-O-Say is not a program of the National Council of the BSA. Mic-O-Say's ceremonies, customs, and traditions are loosely based on the folklore of various tribes of Native Americans. Both councils use both the Tribe of Mic-O-Say and the Order of the Arrow.
The American Boy Scouts (ABS), later the United States Boy Scouts, was an early American Scouting organization formed by William Randolph Hearst in 1910, following on from the formation of the Scouting movement by Robert Baden-Powell between 1903 and 1907. Near the end of its existence, the organization also used the names American Cadets and U.S. Junior Military Forces.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA), one of the largest private youth organizations in the United States, has policies which prohibit those who are not willing to subscribe to the BSA's Declaration of Religious Principle, which has been interpreted by some as banning atheists, and, until January 2014, prohibited all "known or avowed homosexuals", from membership in its Scouting program. The ban on adults who are "open or avowed homosexuals" from leadership positions was lifted in July 2015.
James Edward West was a lawyer and an advocate of children's rights, who became the first professional Executive Secretary, soon renamed Chief Scout Executive, of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), serving from 1911 to 1943. Upon his retirement from the BSA, West was given the title of Chief Scout.
Lone Scouts of America (LSA) was a Scouting organization for American boys that operated from 1915 until it merged with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in 1924. The LSA was founded by W. D. Boyce, publisher of the Chicago Ledger and the Saturday Blade and one of the founders of the BSA. Boyce felt that the program of the BSA did not help the rural boy who could not find enough other boys to form a troop or a patrol. James E. West, the first Chief Scout Executive of the BSA, disagreed with Boyce's concept, believing that the 4-H program was fulfilling the role. After Boyce left the BSA, he started the Lone Scouts of America and incorporated it on January 9, 1915. Boyce became the executive officer or Chief Totem and Frank Allan Morgan became the editor of The Lone Scout. In October 1915, Boyce appointed all of his paperboys as members of the LSA and published the first issue of The Lone Scout magazine.
Scouting in the United States is dominated by the 1.2 million-member Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA and other associations that are recognized by one of the international Scouting organizations. There are also a few smaller, independent groups that are considered to be "Scout-like" or otherwise Scouting related.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was inspired by and modeled on The Boy Scouts Association, established by Robert Baden-Powell in Britain in 1908. In the early 1900s, several youth organizations were active, and many became part of the BSA.
Jere Brian Ratcliffe was a professional Scouter in the Boy Scouts of America who was the ninth Chief Scout Executive.
Randall Lynn Stephenson is a retired American telecommunications executive. He served as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of AT&T Inc. from May 9, 2007 – June 30, 2020 and as executive chairman of AT&T Inc. from July 1 until December 31, 2020. He served as National President of the Boy Scouts of America from 2016 to 2018. In April 2020, Stephenson announced he would step down as CEO of AT&T effective July 1, 2020, replaced by John Stankey. In November 2020, Stephenson announced he would step down as executive chairman of AT&T effective January 2021, replaced by William Kennard.
Robert J. "Bob" Mazzuca was the 11th Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America. His term started in 2007, and he retired on August 31, 2012.
Alden G. Barber was a long-serving professional Scouter for the Boy Scouts of America, and served as the fifth Chief Scout Executive of the BSA from 1967 to 1976. He served during the peak membership years of the BSA, and was instrumental in modernizing the BSA program, particularly the Boy Scout program for boys ages 11 to 17.
Edgar Munroe Robinson (1867–1951) was Boys' Work Secretary of the International Committee of the YMCA and a long-time director and executive with the YMCA in New York. He is notable for his significant efforts in helping to establish the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).
The Great Smoky Mountain Council is a local council of the Boy Scouts of America in Tennessee, with headquarters in Knoxville. It serves 21 East Tennessee counties that span two time zones. Camp Buck Toms is a summer camp owned and operated by the Great Smoky Mountain Council. The camp is located outside Rockwood, Tennessee, on the shores of Watts Bar Lake.
The Boy Scouts of America is an organization run by volunteers, however the day-to-day administration is performed by a staff of professional Scouters. The organization has professional staffing at every level—district, council, regional and national. The Chief Scout Executive is the top professional Scouter.
The National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America governs the Boy Scouts of America organization. One source reports that there were 72 members of the board in 2001.
Roger A. Krone is the president and chief executive officer of the Boy Scouts of America. He was previously CEO of Leidos. An aerospace engineer, Krone worked for 45 years in the aerospace industry, holding senior program management and finance positions at Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, and General Dynamics.
Michael B. Surbaugh was the 13th Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), having succeeded the retiring Wayne Brock on October 1, 2015. He was previously Group Director of HR, Innovation, Exploring and Learning for Life for the BSA. Surbaugh first joined the organization as a professional scouter in 1983.
Roger C. Mosby is the former President, CEO, and 14th Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). He was previously Vice President of Human Resources for Kinder Morgan. Born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, his parents and family moved to Union County, Illinois where he attended elementary and high school. He graduated from Shawnee High School in Wolf Lake, Illinois, going on to Southeast Missouri State University earning a Bachelor of Science in 1973. He was succeeded by Roger Krone, the former CEO of Leidos, on November 8, 2023, months after announcing his intent to retire.
In the Boy Scouts of America, a Scout leader refers to the trained leaders of a Scout unit. Adult leaders are generally referred to as "Scouters," and the youth leaders are referred to by their position within a unit. In all Scouting units above the Cub Scout pack and units serving adolescent Scouts, leadership of the unit comprises both adult leaders (Scouters) and youth leaders (Scouts). This is a key part of the Aims and Methods of Scouting. In order to learn leadership, the youth must actually serve in leadership roles.
