Not long after the birth of  Scouting, Lord Baden-Powell realized that a training program was needed for Scout leaders.  In 1919, Baden-Powell gathered a handful of those early leaders together for training in a camp setting. 
     At the end of that first training course, each leader was presented with a small wooden bead as recognition of that leader's accomplishment.  Baden-Powell had collected those beads from a Zulu warrior Chieftain during his tenure in Africa.  While the original beads have long since been dispersed, the symbol of that "wooden badge" still retains a major significance in the world of Scouting Training.
     Today, Wood Badge is Scouting's ultimate training course.  Leaders throughout the world gather to learn the Leadership and Management skills that have made Scouting a universal success story.  Furthermore, the eleven leadership and management skills presented throughout the course represent the core skills required for successfully running a Scout Troop, a family, a church activity or even a fortune 500 company.
     All Wood Badge courses are designed to be run just as a traditional Boy Scout Troop should be organized.  Every participating Scouter experiences the same events and activities that a young boy would encounter when he joins a new Troop.  Participants are divided into patrols of six to eight Scouters (most of whom they have probably never met before the course), then assigned to set up their campsite for the next week (or three weekends).  For the rest of the course, all activities are organized by patrol.
     Wood Badge is divided into two distinct "phases."  First is the practical or formal phase where participants are gathered together in camp in a structured learning environment that lasts for one continuous week or three weekends.  Once that ends, the second or application phase begins.  During this phase, each Wood Badge candidate takes from six months to two years to apply their newly perfected skills to their position in Scouting.  The skills are applied according to a detailed plan (known as a ticket) that is written by the candidate themselves.  Only after the completion of the application phase does the coveted Wood Badge neckerchief, beads and woggle get presented.
     Since the first Wood Badge course was presented in Detroit Area Council in August of 1959,  nearly 1,400 D.A.C. Scouters have participated in the best training that Scouting has to offer.  With the exception of 1960 and 1986, Wood Badge has been offered every year within the council.  The largest course in the history of the region was held in 1991 when 89 Scouters crammed into the Pines Training Center.
     The 1999 Wood Badge Course, C-32-99 will surely uphold the long tradition of excellence in Wood Badge and Detroit Area Council.