As a kid, I always thought they were unique but it’s trivial to google “Boy Scout Troop 1” and find quite a few across different states. So does each state have separate numbering systems?
Growing up, our town had 3 troops numbered 36, 236, and 436, so it doesn’t seem to simply be sequential either.
Not sure the exact answer, but I know that at least in the late 1970s it was possible for an explorer post to request a specific number. I was a member of Denver Area Council Explorer Post 73, which was basically a youth ham radio club. “73” is the ham/ Morse code abbreviation for “best regards” and there is no way that was coincidental.
ETA, I think the troop/pack numbers ARE unique but only within a Council, so a troop number and a council name together specify a unique group.
Each council (roughly corresponding to a city, or equivalent-population group) has its own numbering. I think that when a new troop is being formed, they can request a number of their choosing, if it isn’t already taken in that council.
Our town had troops 22 and 122. I suspect that this might be the case of a single troop dividing itself, and wanting to keep most of the numbers the same so that the boys who were leaving would just have to sew on a single new patch. Of course this is just speculation.
as i recall a council could be a sub-state area, there may be a member limit so major metro areas much be one or more council. if the last two digits would be unique to a city then it would be a quick identifier to its location in that council.
To second what others have said, troop numbers are supposed to be unique within a given Council.
However, while councils used to correspond to given city, many councils have merged in the last few decades so that the areas encompassed by a given council are much larger. For example, Connecticut Rivers Council encompasses more than half the state of Connecticut.
Due to the merging of councils, you will occasionally get two troops with the same troop number. Sometimes one of the troops will get a new number; but if both troops want to keep the same number, one or both of them may append a letter to the end of the number, so that Troop 17 in Norwich becomes Troop 17N, for example.
ETA: doing some quick research, the appending of letters to a troop number might be an unofficial practice. It appears the council keeps them straight by combination of troop number, chartering organization, and/or town.
My son’s troop was formed on May 3, 2005, so they chose 535.
a quick look shows councils covering anything from a city to a full state.
We formed a new troop a couple of years back. At least at our council, we got to pick our number, as long as no one already had it (in the council).
So that’s how we became troop 666.
A new troop formed close to ours and the council declared that it was a rebooting of an older (now defunct) troop so their number was chosen for them.
In Australia we name groups based on the suburb they are in and then the sequence of them starting.
So I am in 2nd Mornington Scouts. This being the 2nd scout group in Mornington. Some groups also use the area they are in, there is one called 1st Baden Powell as they are located on Baden Powell Drive!
There are no two groups with the same name.
This was definitely true for Explorers. I was a member of Explorer Post 360 in Boulder, Colorado in the early/mid 1970s. It was hosted by IBM and named for the IBM 360 computer.