U.S. Army and the Boy Scouts

[RememberSchiff]

Back when I was a kid, I often watched an early morning tv show called "The Big Picture". Here's a 28 minute episode "U.S. Army and the Boy Scouts" that I watched more than 50 years ago, about the time I joined Cub Scouts.

 

 

Very cool back then having soldiers and West Point cadets teaching rifle shooting.

 

 

 

 

[packsaddle]

Back when I was working on projects for various bases around the country I would always check on the resources for 'outreach' or community services, and if it was possible I'd ask about interactions with scout troops. Of course everyone was polite but the results varied quite a bit. Most of it depended on the region, proximity to different population densities, the natural features...and of course, the fundamental purpose of the base. Some had really nice places to camp and programs for young people, others were cordial. My guess is that if enough troops inquired, the PR people for even the ones that had few resources would probably try to find resources if there was enough evidence of interest.

My favorite: Ft. Benning. I mean to tell you I've never seen as many cottonmouths anywhere as I did in the streams on that base. Spectacular!

[SeattlePioneer]

In general is it worthwhile to ask about camping on military bases? To whom should such an inquiry be directed?

 

Our Scout troop received an interesting tour of the Manchester, Washington naval fueling depot several years ago and that included an invitation using the facilities on the base. That invitation was withdrawn a few days before our visit when some other outfit had priority, which was inconvenient.

 

In that case, a Scout district chair was part of the base leadership.

[CA_Scouter]

Our local paper had an article yesterday about a young man who had recently graduated from West Point. He earned Eagle in a local troop and was awarded special recognition from West Point as the cadet who best represented Scouting in his graduating class.

 

Cool beans....

 

[howarthe]

This weekend I am attending the Washington Jamboree which will be held on property adjacent to Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma Washington. It is an army base and an air force base. It is not "on base" but the property belongs to the base. There is a section in the Leader Guide warning about the possible of discovering unexploded munitions. I've never been before, but I believe its primary attraction for the scouts is that it is very near a lake where they will have sailboat and canoes. There is no water on site, so we are encouraged to bring our own, but there will be water trucks. The weirdest part (to me) is that we can't build a fire on the ground. The grass is really dry this time of year, but it seems odd to me to go camping without a campfire.

[RememberSchiff]

In general is it worthwhile to ask about camping on military bases? To whom should such an inquiry be directed?

 

Definitely, particularly if there is an airshow or other public base event that weekend . Usually one contacts the base Public Affairs Office.

 

(This message has been edited by RememberSchiff)

[AZMike]

Some of the current U.S. military academy cadet class demographics, broken down by (among other things) Scouting involvement and Eagle/Gold Award members -

 

http://paulryan.house.gov/uploadedfiles/usafa_2015.pdf'>http://paulryan.house.gov/uploadedfiles/usafa_2015.pdf

 

http://paulryan.house.gov/uploadedfiles/usafa_2015.pdf

 

(They're from Paul Ryan's site, but most congressmen have this on their sites.)

[packsaddle]

Yes, Public Affairs. Here is an old thread that covered this subject nicely:

 

[Reasonable Rascal]

I was able to assist a non-Scout group of English boys secure 2 nights lodging at Kirtland AFB in Albuqueque. They have a troop that meets there and they interacted with the English lads, even provided a local to act as tour guide for visits to are points of interest. They stayed there early this week, touring Route 66 from Chicago to LA.

 

The same group is pending two nights with my troop this week as well. We are taking them camping over in CA on Friday.

 

I should also add that we have never camped on an Army base, but we have found that AF bases tend to be accommodating. usually a gym or some such place to spread your bags.

 

RR(This message has been edited by Reasonable Rascal)

[ssgjbroyles]

The main difference between the two is ADULT LEADERSHIP

 

 

(I know it's an old joke, and I was a Scout, AM a Scouter, and also a Retired Soldier)

[Eagle92]

And let's not forget the Marines.

 

My old council couldn't hold they their annual encampment with 10K+ participants without help from the 4th Marine Division. 4MarDiv would also TDY folks for our summer camp staff. GREAT HELP.

 

An aside: did you know it is possible to flip a HMMWV over?

[nldscout]

Flipping a HMMWV is not that difficult. We lose several every year on base where I work. Usually due to someone hotdogging it.

[Eagle92]

Exactly what happened. 2 corpsmen went to the wilderness area of the reservation and were goofing off. Now HMMWVs are banned from camp.