Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills (IOLS)

Who should take this training?

New Scouts BSA Scoutmasters (highest-ranking adult volunteer leader working with youth in a Scouts BSA Troop) and Assistant Scoutmasters

Why should I take this training?

Scouting’s outdoor program is a critical part of how the Scouts BSA program develops young leaders. While camping or participating in other outdoor events, your Scouts will challenge themselves to learn skills they’ve never tried before or maybe didn’t think they could do. In doing so, your Scouts will work together as a team to overcome adversity when things don’t go as planned; this is truly the magic of Scouting that no other program does as well.

To safely offer Scouting’s outdoor program, however, you need a certain set of skills and knowledge – and that’s why you’re required to take Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills (also known as “IOLS”) Training. You’ll learn how to build a fire, use an axe, cook outdoors, use a map and compass, responsibly care for the outdoors, and much more. Even if you weren’t a Scout as a kid, you’ll come out of this course looking and acting like a seasoned camper. This course, combined with Youth Protection Training and the Scoutmaster-Specific Training course, will make you an “fully trained” Scouts BSA leader.

Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation (BALOO) Training

Who should take this training?

Any Cub Scout adult leader or parent who will go on Cub Scout Den or Pack outdoor events, including pack camping overnighters and Webelos Den overnight camping

Why should I take this training?

Many Cub Scouts want to do stuff outdoors, including camping. It’s probably why they joined in the first place! In order for your den or your entire Cub Scout Pack to have an outdoor activity or go camping, you must have someone complete the Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation, also known as “BALOO”, training course.

BALOO Training is made up of two parts: an online course available on My.Scouting.org, and an in-person, hands-on course. You must complete both parts to qualify as a trained outdoor Cub Scout leader. The hands-on course involves camping overnight (after all, that’s what the course is about – camping). You’re going to learn a lot, from cooking to first aid to campfires to hiking to aquatics and much, much more.