Santa Clara, California
About Our Troop
Scouts BSA Troop 394 is a Scout-led troop in Santa Clara, chartered in the Pioneer District of the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council.
Who we are
Troop 394 exists to give the youth of Santa Clara the best Scouting experience possible, a program that develops them physically, mentally, and morally, built around the Scout Oath and Law, and run by the Scouts themselves with adults present as advisers.
In practice that means a Scout in Troop 394 spends Tuesday evenings with their patrol, one weekend a month in the field, and a week each July at summer camp. They will plan a menu, cook it over a fire, navigate with a map and compass, teach a younger Scout the skill they learned last year, and stand in front of the troop to run a meeting.
Adults do three things: keep it safe, keep it moving, and stay out of the way. Our program is genuinely youth-led, which means it is sometimes messier than an adult would run it, and that is the point.
- Chartered
- 1993
- Council
- Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council
- District
- Pioneer District
- Meets
- Every Tuesday during the school year, 7:00 PM
Our patrols
The patrol is the basic unit of the troop. Six to ten Scouts who camp together, cook together, and compete together, with their own name, flag, and elected leader.
New Scout patrol
Webelos crossing over at 10½ or older form their own patrol, with an assistant Scoutmaster assigned to them and a Troop Guide to bring them through the first year.
Regular patrols
Scouts with previous experience are placed in a patrol with others of similar age and skill. Each elects its own Patrol Leader.
Patrol Leaders' Council
The Patrol Leaders and the Senior Patrol Leader. They set the troop's annual calendar, which then goes to the committee for approval.
Youth leadership
Every position below is held by a Scout, elected or appointed by their peers. These are not honorary titles, each one carries real responsibility for how the troop runs.
Senior Patrol Leader
Akhil and Jacqueline (2026–27)
The youth leader of the troop. Sets the agenda and presides at all Patrol Leaders' Council meetings, runs the weekly troop meeting, and appoints the other youth leaders.
Assistant Senior Patrol Leader
Sreshta
Assists in conducting meetings and stands in for the SPL. Responsible for training and directing the quartermaster, scribe, historian, librarian, and instructors.
Patrol Leaders
Elected by each patrol every six months
Responsible for their patrol at all times, patrol meetings, troop functions, and representing the patrol at the Patrol Leaders' Council.
Troop Guide
Zachary and Akalya
Appointed by the Scoutmaster to help younger Scouts progress through the ranks. Works alongside the New Scout patrol's assistant Scoutmaster.
Instructors
Older Scouts
Advanced Scouts who provide the corps of skills and knowledge the SPL builds the troop's training program around.
Quartermaster
Shravya and Shripranav
Keeps the troop's camping gear inventoried, repaired, and ready to load.
Scribe
Anvay
Records attendance and dues, and keeps the minutes of the Patrol Leaders' Council.
Historian & Librarian
Vihaan (historian), Jonah and Aran (librarians)
Keeps the troop's record and its library of handbooks, merit badge pamphlets, and trip reports.
Adult volunteers
Troop 394 runs on parents. Every registered adult completes Youth Protection Training and a background check before their first campout, and training is free.
Chartered Organization Rep
A member of the Elks who serves on the committee and links the troop to the lodge. Encourages training, helps recruit leaders, and assists with rechartering.
Scoutmaster
Oversees the operations of the troop and all assistant Scoutmasters, and reports the troop's status and program to the committee.
Assistant Scoutmasters
Each carries a specific function and advises an assigned patrol. One is designated to work directly with the New Scout patrol.
Committee Chair
Chairs the troop committee, the board that supports the troop and its program.
Secretary & Treasurer
Troop records, dues, and the camping budget.
Advancement Coordinator
Schedules boards of review and files advancement with the council.
Outdoor Activities & Transportation
Campsites, permits, tour plans, and getting everyone to the trailhead.
Court of Honor & Fundraising
Runs the quarterly courts of honor and the troop's fundraising.
You do not need to have been a Scout. If you can drive a carload to a trailhead, sit on a board of review, or counsel a merit badge in the thing you already do for a living, we have a place for you.
Talk to the committee
Troop history
Troop 394 was chartered in March 1993 by the Santa Clara Elks Lodge #2347, and formed for a simple reason: to give the youth of Santa Clara the best Scouting experience possible. It has met on Tuesday nights ever since. Troop 2394 was added when Scouts BSA opened to girls, and the two run as one linked program.
Within its first five years the troop was already recognised as one of the higher-achieving units in the area, earning honours at council and district events and taking the Quality Unit Award every year for activities, advancement, membership, and training.
The trip log tells the rest of the story: an overnight bicycle ride over the mountains to the ocean, a 25-mile day ride to Lexington Reservoir, kayaking, ski trips, the Bear Paw snow campout near Bear Valley, the Pioneer District Camporee, Yosemite in the rain, Moro Rock and the General Sherman tree in Sequoia, wilderness survival on the Monterey coast, service projects at the Elks Lodge, and a week at Camp Hi-Sierra every single July.
What has not changed is the method. The troop’s own operating guide still puts it plainly: troop, patrol, and Patrol Leaders’ Council meetings, camping trips, and day trips are run by the youth leaders, not by the adults.
The neckerchief patch
Every Scout in the troop wears this at their throat. The campfire has been the troop’s mark since the beginning, and the four letters above it date the cloth: SCCC is the Santa Clara County Council, which is what our council was called before it merged with the Monterey Bay Area Council in 2013 to become the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council.
The design has outlasted the council’s name, two charter organisations, and something close to thirty years of Scouts. It is the logo at the top of this page, redrawn so it stays sharp when it is the size of a postage stamp.
Come meet the troop
We meet every tuesday during the school year at 7:00 PM. Visitors are welcome any week, just walk in.