Boy/Varsity Scout Uniform Left Shoulder JLT/TLT

Junior Leader Training recognition (40/50s) emblem

Hi Rob!!

You wrote and asked us:

"I recently picked up some Junior Leader Training patches. They are relatively small, six sided, JL and the green bars in the center, with a red border. I'd like to present these to my scouts upon completion of our troop leadership training. I like to emphasize the heritage of scouting and think it would be fun to use these patches.

Can anyone share the history of these patches? Time period, how they were typically used? They seem like maybe they were hat patches by their size."

The small six sided JLT (Junior Leader Training) emblems were the forerunner to today's NYLT (National Youth Leader Training) courses conduced on the local Council level. They were awarded after completing the week-long training course, and worn on the LEFT uniform sleeve (the RIGHT side was where up to six merit badges could be worn back in the day) six inches back from the cuff of the shirt.

There is also a "staff" segment which is worn below the emblem by those who served on staff.

Junior Leader Training recognition (40/50s) emblem

Like many patches created back then (another example is the Instructor badge of office), it was not the size of the emblem but what it represented which was most important. No, they were NOT hat patches.

There are about five or six color/fabric variations to the emblem which correspond to the various fabrics and colors used by the BSA since the end of the 40s when the emblem was introduced (1946 my field notes say here; I don't have access to my library here in Tennessee, so the date may be off some) until 1971, when the emblem was retired and the first of the shield-shaped emblems which were designed for wear on the right pocket was created.

Junior Leader Training recognition (60s/70s) emblem

(The difference was that starting in 1968, the emblem was to be worn centered on the right pocket as a temporary patch; the "BSA" letters were added in 1969.)

The name was changed in 1972 to "Troop Leadership Training", or TLT instead of JLT. I have Transatlantic Council segments featuring both variants -- earned both versions.

There are three or four (don't hold me to that) versions of the Troop Leadership Training emblem or their Philmont version which has been produced until 1976, when ALL OUT FOR SCOUTING was created and the distinctive Crest of Leadership replaced those emblems.

I would personally not recommend the wearing of the emblems by today's Scouts, because it would represent something they did not earn. Even though they took part in a junior leader training course, it is not the same as the older JLT courses. If you want to present them with something, however, I would recommend that you make neckerchief slides out of them or frame them along with a brief description of what the emblem represent and present it to them at the conclusion of the current training, along with the BSA "Trained" strip.

The current version of this training is called "National Youth Leadership Training" or NYLT.

Thanks for asking, Rob...I'll add this along with some scans of the emblems I have to the Badge and Uniform Site.

Settummanque!

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