Sea Badge TridentSeabadge Conference (1971- )

Overview
Seabadge is an advanced training course for Sea Explorer/Sea Scout leaders, loosely equivalent to Wood Badge.  Course is run as a weekend event, and requires that the participants have gone through basic leader training.  Course is run at the Regional/National level.

Work on developing the course started in 1970 by a group of experienced Sea Scout officers who met at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.  A curriculum was developed and the first Seabadge Conference was held in 1971 and spread from there. The National Committee on Sea Exploring then took this work and developed the first official Seabadge Conference Guide.

Despite what some might think, Seabadge is not being ended in favor of the new combined Wood Badge course.

Information on Seabadge may be found here at the Sea Scouts, BSA site.

Program
The purposes of the Seabadge experience are:

Seabadge is not a skills course, but a leadership/management course.  As originally developed, the course had participants complete certain goals (called a praxis or rudder) to earn their badge.  Currently, this practice isn't done in all regions.


Insignia
Course insignia consists of the Seabadge medallion, and "square knots".  There are three different knots to indicate course participant, staff, and course director.  Only a course participant knot has been approved by National, the rest are unofficial, but widely used.  Below are shown some of the unofficial knots, plus the official knot.  As to the three pins, the first was used from 1972-74, the second from 1974-77 [SE-64], and the third is the current Seabadge pin [SE-65].  The Sea Badge Trained strip comes from the Southern Region, and is semi-official.
 
 
Sea Badge Insignia
SE-66 SE-67
Official BSA Seabadge 'knot' Sea Badge Trained Strip

Literature
Course syllabus is Sea Badge Conference Staff Guide (#23-269), which was released in 1988 and revised in 1996 and 1998.  Prior printings had slightly different titles.  Have only seen a 2000 "printing" of the 1998 edition.  Its been replaced by the Sea Badge CD, which contains the Sea Badge Staff Manual (#23-270), revised for 2002.

updated: 04/07/2005mrb