The Cub Scout Pack is sponsored by a community organization, such as a business, service organization, school, labor group, or religious institution. The registered organization is responsible for selecting leadership, providing a meeting place, and promoting a good program. The registered organization representative is the liaison between the pack, the registered organization, and the BSA.
The pack meets once a month, offering a program for rookie scouts, leaders, parents and other family members. The pack is led by a Cubmaster with one or more Cubmaster assistants. The pack committee is a group of adults, led by the pack committee chair, who plan the program and activities of the pack, as well as manage record keeping, finances, leader recruitment, and registration. The pack instructor is responsible for training all leaders and maintaining training records.
Cub scouts who join the pack are assigned to dens, ideally of six to eight members, usually according to age: lion scouts (kindergarten), tiger scouts (first grade), wolf scouts (second grade), bear scouts (third grade) and Webelos Scouts (fourth and fifth grades). Tribes meet weekly or bi-weekly under the leadership of the adult den leader. A cub scout is elected to the position of denner and provides basic leadership of the den. The scout or Entrepreneur occupying the den leader’s position may assist him or her in his or her actions. Lair meetings are planned around a specific adventure being worked on to promote rank, and may include games, crafts, hikes and other outdoor activities, as well as preparation for the next pack meeting.
Webelos is an acronym that means “We will be faithful scouts.” According to the 1954 Bear Scout Book, the name originally came from the initial letters “wolf, bear, lion, scout,” the title “Lion Scout” was downgraded in 1967, but was used again in 2017 with the launch of a kindergarten pilot program of the same name, which became a full part of the program in 2018. Packages with more Webelos Scouts sometimes divide them into Webelos I and Webelos II lairs to keep their lairs from years past intact. As of 2017, fifth graders are working on a formalized Arrow of Light rank, so this I and II distinction is no longer necessary. Webelos’ lairs spend most of their time learning Scouting customs, including the Scout Law and the Oath. Many packs formally bond with the Cub Scout troop for mutual support – the troop assists the pack in activities such as camps and ceremonies, and over time Webelos Scouts move into the troop.
The Lone Cub Scout program is for youth who cannot regularly participate in a nearby Cub Scout pack due to factors such as distance, weather, time, disability or other such issues.
In October 2017, the Boy Scouts of America announced that girls would be accepted into the Cub Scout program in same-sex shelters, but with. 77,000 girls joined nationwide groups, creating packs in California, among other places.