How many of you are Eagle Scouts?
 

I saw the thread that 911pcars had started about an Eagle project and it got me curious, how many of you guys are Eagle Scouts and what is your best memory of being in scouting? I went to visit my old Scoutmaster today and we had a good talk and shared some memories.

I'll start. My brother and I are Eagle Scouts and one of my many memories was me trying to make Kraft Macaroni & Cheese on a fire grill and messing up at least 3 boxes before I got it right.

I was a Cub Scout :rolleyes:. But I did spend many years in the Rockies and was able to get a lot f practical experience.

I'm an Eagle Scout. Earned it in mid 1976, less than a month after my 14th birthday. Such an over-achiever. Stayed in Scouts until I was 18. Went backpacking almost once a month - went into the backcountry of Yosemite for almost two weeks with just another friend when we were both 15. Went to two national Jamborees. Was a canoe instructor in Mission Bay. Scouting helped teach me to lead - to stand in front a room of younger and older kids and get them to organize and execute.

Scouting is really dependent upon the quality of the troop and the parental involvement. With the preponderance of other activities so readily available to kids today, it's hard to compete. My own son was in Scouting but sadly did not persevere beyond 2nd Class.

My dads largest regret is that none of his 5 boys ever gained interest in the scouts. Actually, I find it rather tough to keep a chair under my arse when he mentions that he was one way back when.

You see, the leader of the troops when I was younger was not a very good example of a scoutmaster, so my image of the scouts is tainted.

I hope the feller (the bell housing builder) builds the thing himself, but I don't see that happening.

I got to Star, one merrit badge short of Life. :(

Internal troop politics drove me out. I was SPL at 15, and being pulled in 8 different directions at once by adults with their own agendas for the troop. I wasn't mature enough to understand what was going on at the time, but I did know that I had stopped having fun.

I am and so are my dad and his two brothers. It has been great teaching me leadership and willingness to strive. Camping and summer camp were probably my fondest memories of Scouting. I talk to people these days who didn't go or have the opportunity to attend summer camp. I went at least 6 or 7 years in a row. Looked forward to it every year!

+1 to what Don said. I did scouting for several years, but our troop was extremely disorganized and didn't do much to equip us with the resources to go after merit badges and rank advancements. Most of what I earned, I did on my own or at summer camp. I think in the entire time I was a member we had one guy make life scout level and that was about it.

No regrets - it was fun, but it would have been nice if I'd been with a troop that had some better resources, probably would have made it.

i was a life scout, about 7 merit badges from eagle. still have all my stuff including uniforms.

had a blast! our troop 268 was a backpacking troop. not a wammbie-pammpie lets make crafts troop. we did rim-river,rim-rim,rim-rim-rim,bright angel,havasupai,hermit trails in the grand canyon.

camp geronimo and r bar c camps was where i got volunteered to be a junior hot shot and we roamed around the forest putting out camp fires left burning and our favorite.............we used to pour diesel fuel down the "apache" toilets and burn them out! that was always fun!generally cut a lot of trail and line and got to hang out w/real hotshots from the forest service.

end of the year, those who had put the most time and effort were awarded an honor hike of 7 days up in the white mtns. hike umpteen million miles each day and then pitch tents rain or shine and do it again the next day. we walked alot. now that i write about it, i think they were training us to go to vietnam!!!!!

we also got to shoot lots of guns throw knives and other activities im sure the boy scouts frown upon now. our scoutmaster always packed a .45 a drove a short box monster dodge powerwagon that would go anywhere. we had ablast. cant think of anything bad with the entire experience except we sure walked a hell of alot!

if i had to do it again..........id do it again and finish my eagle. my kids went as far as webloes and then moved on to baseball. i think its a good thing for kids. hell im a knot tying fool, still enjoy archery, and still shoot alot.

and i still enjoy being outdoors be it hunting/fishing or just getting up to the mtns to get out of the heat. taught me alot of things that i still use now. always big giggles to go hunting w/a city slicker and watch how they set up camp!

every damn one of those merit badges taught you one thing..........how to survive on your own and do things yourself w/out relying on anybody!

When I joined my troop, it had over 100 members and had been in continual existence since the 1920's. There were 8 patrols of 10-12 guys and a "Leadership Corps"--6-8 guys who were Life or Eagle.

There was a minor scandal when I was 14. One of the kids (who was a real trouble-maker) had started a forest-fire at summer camp. (It was never clear to me whether it was intentional or an accident.) The fire was extinguised, but it took around 50 people about 30 minutes to put it out. In the ensuing investigation, it was uncovered that a lot of the other kids had either done similar things or had not done enough to discourage this kid. Out of shame, most of the senior members of the troop never came back after that summer.

Suddenly, I went from being 1-2 years away from being invited to join the leadership corps to being the most senior member of the troop.

I made eagle as a Sea Scout. Went to two jamborees (Colorado Spgs and Valley Forge) , Was on Staff at Philmont for a summer and a camper for another, but, like Don said, couldn't keep my own sons interested enough to stay in past First Class.
Like Charles said, we did things in Sea Scouts that were generally frowned upon by scouting at the time, such as founding a County Search and recovery Dive team specializing in High Altitude diving (Decomp tables are all recalced based on the altitude) Great times... Maybe the grandkids will like it better.

I was a boy scout for quite a few years, but never made it to eagle scout. Riding and wrenching on dirt bikes took over my life as a young teen over fishing and camping.

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought all you had to do was boil water :eek:

(Just given you some shyt! ;))

Philmont.

Went there in '92 and '94. One of the best times in my life.

Had fun with Scouting. Made Eagle, kept going with the 3 palms ( there were TONS of great merit badge counselors in our area), Our Order of the Arrow lodge was very active as well. Most memorable event was getting "ambushed" by US Army Rangers on the Appalachian trail.

Eagle Scout...
Vigil honor in OA...
District award of Merit...

I used to remain active as a Scoutmaster with the troop, but there are so many political problems with BSA, not to mention the ever-present "parental" issues of kids these days: (I don't want my little Billy to get too cold out there this weekend) Too many parents are over-protective anymore.

Best memories, lets see...
Hiking the length of Isle Royal, National staff for NOAC '94, hiking the AT, this list could go on and on.

-Nick

I was a Boy Scout when my dad was the troop leader in Montana growing up. Great memories, although I lost interest as I turned into a teenager and bailed. I tried to get my son into it, but being a Cub Scout in Laguna Niguel is an absolute joke. I think during one meeting his female pack leader actually had them sewing. Never took off, sadly.

That's on my to-do list. I have a few pamphlets on my fridge.

How did you get up there? Did you take the ferry from Houghton or the plane?

i cant think of a more formulative few years in my life. having the choice of reading sports illustrated or a biography about some expedition to outer mongolia..........id choose the later.

learned how to snow ski,x-country ski,snowshoe,mtn climb,first aid, knots,cooking,guns,knives,swimming, chain saws,on and on, just open the merit badge book.

i have not one regret of those years. i still do alot of camping to this day. my doolie at home is like an f-15 on luke AFB's tarmac............ready to go. stuffed with food water hunt fish supplies tents cots sleeping pads pots pans MRE's, freeze dried food anything and everything i need to survive when the BIG JUAN goes off!

it taught me how to survive anywhere. how to eat bugs/lizards/birds/fish and purify water out of a cattle stock tank. how to track game .......man or beast. everything you need to survive.

ive dropped big bucks on tents over the years. we have (1) of 42 made by the north face antarctic hotels built for the will steiger expedition tents. based on himilayan hotel design. sleeps 6(crammed) weighs 19# and will withstand 125 knot winds. goretex floor, it is impervious to rain. sat in that damn thing (3) days while torrential rains nailed us one summer. sat in it one hunt on mt graham for (2) days while arctic cold front snowed us in.

also have north face mtn.-25 tent. sleeps 2 and its also a 4-season tent. weighs about 5.5 #'s. this is the classic backpacker hotel. weighs nothing and simple to put up after long day humping the bush.

i use north face ibex -20 degree down bag and a north face dark star polarguard -40 degree bag which unlike down will dry out when its a wet snow. love hunting or camping in the snow.

i cant get enough outdoors and i do owe it all to my boy scout experience. nothing better than going to rei for latest gadget or surfing backcountry.com for new gear.

going (2) weeks with out a shower or toilet, you learn real quick what lifes priorities are all about .

all i know it beat the hell out of shoveling horse sh!! or mowing lawns on the weekends!

We took the ferry up "from da ooo, p".
Over the years the ferry has been nicknamed the barf-barge :)
It is truly amazing, it can be 75-80 degreed at the dock, but when you get in the open waters of Lake Superior, it drops to about 45-50. Of course the cold air drives most people inside the boat, where the get even more sea-sick.

It is beautiful up there though! The little foxes will actually run up and take food from your hand. The Moose will walk into your campsite and lick your plates clean if you step away for any amount of time!

I need to get back up there some day, maybe when my daughter is older.

I'll try to dig out some pics for ya later this evening.

-Nick

Life Scout
Vigil OA

One more worthwhile thing that wine & women distracted me from.

Around the time of Weblos I discovered that I really enjoyed sports and girls and that was the end of it for me . But I really salute those who are involved in the Scouts and those of you who are Eagle Scouts . I think it is quite an accomplishment.

I made it to 1st Class and bailed. My son made Eagle about a year ago. I told him it was something that he could put on a resume that actually meant something.

My brother and I are both Eagle Scouts. I earned mine in 1998, also was an OA Vigil member and got a National Court of Honor award for heroism.

I and my two brothers are Eagle Scouts.

My son is now an 11 year old Tenderfoot. My father made it to Life Scout before joining the Navy in WWII. I made it a point to tell him before he recently passed away that I would provide the same scouting opportunities to my son that he gave us.

Too many great times to list, but:

We had the March Air Force Base Commanding Officer's son in our Troop for many years. So of course, we spent a lot of time there. At the time it was a SAC base (complete with nuke B-52's taking off around the clock in the mid 70's). They actually brought us in to the SAC "World Map" room (as seen in War Games) - a very limited access place as you might imagine.

We camped 11 weekends per year plus several backpacking and summer camps per year. One memorable trip was to Ft. Irwin where they practice desert tank warfare. One night when I was a new scout, we had just gone to bed in the barracks on our first night there. About 11:30pm a drill instructor type woke us up, began screaming at us, told us what slobs we were, made us clean the place, then right as we were getting started on that he told us we were all worthless SOB's and to get out of the barracks. He forced us all outside in the 40 deg. night in only our scivies. They loaded all 60 of us in Deuce-and-a-Halfs, and drove us around for a while. We finally came to a stop, where they through off the tarps and revealed to us the real treat they planned for us. Arranged in a large arc were about 30 M60 tanks, and with some type of whistle, they began an extensive night firing session, with full artillery and 50 cal. machine guns with tracers. It really was fascinating as a 12 year old kid growing up in the city outside of el lay.

Never made Eagle...most memorable experience? 1957 Jamboree, Valley Forge, PA. Everbody arrived by rail...still on record as one of the largest peacetime rail movements ever. Still have my Jamboree jacket, decorated with patches. I gave one of the Jamboree neckerchiefs to a nephew of Cindy's, when he was into scouting...

interesting how the US boy scouts use a "merit" and "badge" system
i was in the scouts, not to long, wasn't for me, most of my cousin's where in it, and did in fact become troup leaders, my cousin is now group leader for Ypres

over here other then a patch when you move to a different age group, or a patch for going on a particular big camp or to Jamboree, there is no merit system for things like leadership and what not, those who are troup or group leader do get a badge, but not like anybody in the group , who isn't a troup leader can get one for showing leadership amongst his peers...

if you want to be a leader, you sign up for the Djin(if i remember correctly) group, which in the last age group
and then next year if you have what it takes, you become a leader and you get a group to lead along with somebody who has done it a bit longer...

Life Scout here. With Soccer (AYSO & High School), girls, Surfing and having a car, Scouts lost out. Taught me many great lessons and how to appreciate the outdoors. Still love camping and backpacking.

My Dad and his two brothers are, and me and my two brothers are also. Very proud of what i acomplised.

In my youth I was in the Lutheran pioneers, an offshoot of the boy scouts with that religious twist. Didn't last long for this guy, it was too yes sir, no sir for this guy.

When I had children, my oldest was in and he made it to life, isn't that one below eagle?? There was a big change in the troup leader and he didn't like his approach but at his age I was taking him to the mountains myself and he was getting hi adventure climbing mountain routes and rock climbing walls.

By the time my youngest came around, I was getting used up and wearing out but the scout group had changed to a hi adventure troup. 50 mile hikes in the mountains, canoe and kyak runs, rock climbing, skiing a not so formal group more of a outward bound type. This appealed to my youngest and he became a eagle, actually he became his senior class pres. and now is at the Naval Academy.

Stijn, merit badges are usually associated with learning specific skills. I had around 20 of them. Hiking, canooing, rowing, sailing, swimming, lifesaving, archery, rifle, shotgun, etc...

I got that one too... but that was with a girl scout :p

When does a Webelo become a Boy Scout? When he eats his first Brownie...

Got my eagle around 1991 or so when I was about 17 at March AFB Troop 100 as well.

Many great memories and many great friendships. Went to Philmont in '88 and '89. I don't 100% agree with what the BSA espouses today but will probably get my own son involved and be a leader myself. I learned leadership in the Boy Scouts and those lessons have served me very well my entire life. In my last job interview I spent more time answering questions about the leadership I learned in the Boy Scouts rather than the technical skills I might possess for the job. They also hired me for the job one position over what they had been looking for.

I'm always surprised at how much value is placed on being an Eagle Scout by those familiar with the BSA to some degree. Those who aren't ask "What's that?"

The question I get asked is "Was it hard to get?" and I say "No, it wasn't hard for me but when you're determined to get something difficulty isn't something you let get in the way." To be honest I didn't feel like it was hard, I was Senior Patrol Leader for many terms. We went through a phase where we lost a lot of senior boys and I stepped up to do what I could.

I can't even begin really to say how much I learned when I think about it.

I shouldn't have posted that. BSA is ok in my book.

I'm glad many have fond memories of scouting. I just pulled my 11 yo son from it because of numerous reasons: disorganization, social obligations that have nothing to do with scouting, parents that use it as a "night out" and could actually care less about being with their kids and would rather BS with the other parents. Should I go on? That and it seems to me the people involved, whether running it or belonging, were just plain weird. OK, I said it;) I was involved in it when I grew up. Unfortunately you can't look to the past to see how it is now.

Nothing but good experiences so far for us.

i guess here it's not as much aimed at nature skills, it is more of a weekly social thing, not as much nature, weekly meet in the clubhouse in town, it is more difficult to find a large area of pure nature in this region
then couple of camps per year, diverse options, perhaps they go to the ardennes, then the year after somewhere in France... never the same place.. they tend to make a deal with a farmer somewhere and rent a patch of land , sometimes an empty barn or stable along with it...

most kids here, learn swimming at school , hiking is part of the scouts to and from camp and stuff, they do hike a lot, but everybody does it as part of a group
cannooing, rowing those would be like one time events,
lifesaving would be something learned outside of the scouts if any chooses to go for that
archery one off event
guns , not a chance, gun laws and all won't permit it

the closest thing to what would be a skill specifically learned in the boy scouts here ( it's actually co-ed, not just boys) would be setting up tent, cooking in the bush, and rigging stuff with just rope and wooden poles, i posted pictures in the 2 story tent thread that Lube started last week or so
but those activities are only for the oldest group, and the group leaders
it can be dangerous , in fact one month ago there was a lethal freak accident where they were rigging a very tall flag post and a wooden pool fell on somebody's head

not sure who the group leaders are in the US, are they professional, career scouts , older/senior volunteers

here it's usually the oldest of the group, that stick with the scouts after they graduate high school at 18, and go to university or something like that
and take up responsibility while they study, can be very difficult to combine uni and leading the group

they usually stop when they graduate uni, and start working full time
as such the group leaders tend to change quite often, the groups themself are probably a lot smaller
starts with perhaps 25-30 in cubs ( some parents also consider it a way to have the younger kids out of the house on sunday morning ), then by the time you get to the age group 17-18, there's maybe 10-15 left...

Eagle Scout here. I have to say if my dad hadn't pushed me I would have quit at Life Scout. Anyhow, got my Eagle and got out. I will say thought that I have been amazed at how people actually notice that you are an Eagle Scout on a resume and are impressed by it.

I had a great time in Scouts, went to Philmont once and had a blast. Also did various summer camps and wilderness camps. Great times. I hope my son is into scouting at some point as well.

My son is involved in Scouts. He just got back from summer camp at Emerald Bay. I was leery when he started but have nothing but good things to say about the people running it and everything it stands for.
I'm sorry I wasn't exposed to it as a kid
Steve

kicked out of the cub scouts in 1958,
kicked out of high school in 1966,
kicked out of college in 1969.
other highlights since.
i sense a pattern here.
the lesson i have learned is that i need to be in charge of what i am involved in or things tend to go askew.