some individuals on the national staff and many volunteers across the nation resisted the idea of changing the focus of wood badge from training leaders in scoutcraft to leadership skills. among them was william "green bar bill" hillcourt, who had been the first united states wood badge course director in 1948. although officially retired, he had many loyal followers. he was adamant that wood badge should continue to teach scoutcraft skills and tried to persuade the national council to stick to that tradition, but his objections were ignored.