Who can participate? Anyone associated with the BSA. That means Scouts, Venturers, parents, volunteers, council staff, board members, friends of Scouting, and BSA alumni.
If you’re an instructor for shooting sports, you can’t just keep your eye on the target. You’ve got another bulls-eye to focus on: safety.
That’s why you need to check out the newly released Shooting Sports Manual, designed for unit and camp leadership, merit badge counselors, and council shooting-sport committees.
Developed by the BSA’s Shooting Sports Committee in conjunction with the National Rifle Association, this comprehensive manual explains the roles and responsibilities of shooting-sports personnel, lists equipment inspection guidelines, outlines the instructions for councils operating shooting ranges, and much more. Continue reading »
Would you tell a Scout to wear his uniform while you show up in a T-shirt and jeans?
Nope.
Just like we wouldn’t tell you about the importance of an active lifestyle while sitting in our La-Z-Boys.
That’s the thinking behind the Boy Scouts of America’s new Walk the Walk challenge. By now you’ve seen us talk the talk about getting fit. Now, 15 BSA adult leaders and I are ready to practice what we preach. Continue reading »
But it doesn’t do you much good if it’s on the coffee table and you’re at a troop meeting or on a campout.
So now, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, you can take the “Guide to Safe Scouting” with you wherever you go—no Internet connection required! Continue reading »
The Scout Motto tells us to “Be Prepared,” and here’s why.
A Louisiana troop trapped for two days by a rising river in southwest Arkansas survived by making smart decisions and planning ahead.
Officials inside and outside the BSA praise the four six Scouts and two Scouters of Troop 162 for their impressive performance in the face of this ordeal.
According to an Associated Press report, the guys filed a detailed schedule and map of where they’d be, knew which areas to avoid in case of flash floods, and quickly moved to higher ground when necessary.
This planning might have saved the guys’ lives.
“They did exactly what they needed to do,” Montgomery County Sheriff David White told the Associated Press. “As long as they stayed on high ground, we figured they were going to be in good shape.”
The six were rescued by a National Guard helicopter early Tuesday morning, as the Associated Press video above shows.
The Albert Pike Recreation Area had no cell service available, so when the troop didn’t return home as planned on Monday, family members and friends took the seven-hour drive up from Lafayette, La., to the recreation area in southwest Arkansas.
After a nerve-racking evening that included a candlelight vigil for the parents, National Guardsmen spotted the troop’s campfire at about 2 a.m. Tuesday.
It was too dangerous to land at that time, so Guardsmen tossed down supplies and walkie talkies.
After sunrise, the helicopter was able to land and rescue the troop—a happy ending made possible by the Scout Motto.
With the troop back safely, Art Hawkins, executive director of the Evangeline Area Council, took the chance to offer his own accolades.
“I wish I could videotape the whole thing,” he told the Associated Press. “This was the lesson of all the things you could do right. There was nothing that could have been done differently to change the outcome.”
