I have had the opportunity to teach the Wilderness Survival badge for scout camp a few times, and gone on the overnights where the boys build their own shelters, improvise some things. I think there's an old thread about it on ETS. I have seen a lot of the things mentioned in your article, in terms of instructor skill level, advising on the badge, and it's a little scary to see some of the folks that were "teaching" the boys.

Personally, I always feel like I need to learn more. I've taken courses from NOLS, SOLO, and the AMC in wilderness leadership, survival, and first aid training, along with years as a SAR volunteer in the White Mountains. Still, I always feel like I have a lot more to learn. On the other hand, I have been paired with adults as instructors who don't appear to ever have had to overnight with just what's in their pockets, let alone teach wilderness survival. I don't buy the "we're all volunteers" answer on this topic, I just think there's too much riding on what we're doing for that. There are way too many folks that aren't smart enough to know what they don't know...