OK, I will be the critic here.

First, if you are doing this as a "business" you have a ton of legalities to address, including having a commercial outfitter's license. Permits, liability, etc. Especially when taking out anyone under 18.

If you are doing as a "volunteer", you still have issues. When I lead trips for a climbing club, EVERYONE had to sign a release. We did not allow anyone under 18 due to the extra liability issues.

I also worked 7 years for the National Outdoor Leadership School. We felt that after students had been on a 30-day course, of intense on-hands teaching, only THEN were they truly ready to lead a group. I am not knocking your military experience, it is just that it is very DIFFERENT from taking out youth groups. There are tons of interpersonal issues, especially with kids, that military training does not address.

There are pretty strict regulations (does vary from state to state) that govern who can be called a "guide". You said nothing about how you addressed this.

If you lead trips for the Scouts, or some other established organization, you at are basically working under their umbrella. Doing it alone, puts you really "out there" legally if and when something goes really wrong.

Your heart is in the right place, but from the last few posts, I do not see that there is enough information on your qualifications to be qualify as a "guide". Perhaps you simply have not explained all this. It sounds, to me, like you are trail-and-error practicing guiding, which in my opinion, is very dangerous.