Region History

The region structure as it is known today can be most easily traced back to 1972 when the National Order of the Arrow Committee voted to approve the establishment of a region chief position (prior to 1972, the Boy Scouts of America was organized into ten regions, and beginning in 1972, the national structure was divided into six regions). The first region chiefs, along with the national chief and national vice chief, were elected in December of 1974 and served two-year terms. Along with this new level of youth leadership came the creation of a “regional OA committee”, similar to the national structure, that includes a chairman who is recommended for service on the regional Scouting committee and the region chief, who serves as a youth representative on the regional board. According to The History of the Order of the Arrow by Dr. Kenneth Davis, the approval of the regional Order of the Arrow structure proved to be one of the key accomplishments of the Order in the 1970s. The regional leadership brought positive effects to the Order in terms of outreach, communications, and field programs.

The next major change in regional structure came to the Order of the Arrow in December of 1984 when the committee made the change to limit the national officer’s term to one year as opposed to two-year terms that had been in place since the 1974 elections. Finally, in 1992, the BSA structure included the four regions that are currently in place today, which resulted in the creation of the Central Region, Boy Scouts of America. The new region was a merging of the East Central and North Central regions, and the regional headquarters moved to where it was until 2009 in Naperville, Illinois. Today, all regional offices have been moved to Boy Scouts of America headquarters in Texas.

The above information was gathered through research of the History of the Order of the Arrow, 3rd edition by Dr. Ken Davis.