"Troop "Sick-Sick-Sick" " (Scout Law: Loyal)

(extracted from "Patches and Pins (or "The quest for Silver Animals and
other assorted crap")", written by Mike L. Walton =A9 1988 )=20

"Troop "Sick-Sick-Sick" "

In 1975, I was registered as a Leadership Corps member of my home Troop,
Troop 801, where I had just earned my Eagle in; and as Senior Patrol Leader
of Troop 666.=20

Where were my loyalities??=20

The Scout Law says this about loyality:=20

"A Scout is Loyal. A Scout is true to his family and friends, to Scouting,
to his school, community and nation."=20

But to TWO Troops?=20

Troop 666 never had the start the rest of the Troops organized at Fort Knox,
Kentucky had. Troop 666 was organized in 1973 and its first chartered
partner quickly and quietly disassociated itself from the Troop no sooner
than it started. The Scoutmaster of the Troop then "jumped ship" to become
an Assistant Scoutmaster of one of the better-known Troops, and the
Troop floundered.=20

The Commissioner of Troop 666, whom was also the new Commissioner of Troops
801 and 667, was a former Senior Drill Instructor named Paul Boals. Paul,
recently rotated from Germany with his two Scout sons, Jacob and Frank,
found their way to Troop 801, at that time one of the better Troops at Fort
Knox, Kentucky.=20

Sergeant Major Boals was presented immediately with a challenge: Troop 666
is dying. It's a good Troop, with its own camping gear and a regular meeting
place. It's that number that bothered some parents and kids.=20

Paul got the Main Post Chapel to charter Troop 666 for one year, as a "trial
run". The Post Chaplain agreed, stating that "its just a number and we're
glad to do our part to disspell any notion of the "bad nature of the=
number".=20

See, to many Christians, the number "666" equates to the "mark of the
beast". In Revelations, the New Testament speaks of people being marked with
those three numbers on their foreheads or hands. So, when the 3rd Battalion
of the 54th Infantry received a charter to operate Troop number 666 (the
next "free number available for the Lincoln Trail District"), the image of
wearing white "666"s with a red background immediately repelled families (at
least those families familiar enough with the Bible) away from the Troop.=20

The military unit, which called itself "the Devil's Battalion", thought that
the number would go great with their military "tradition". They had no
problem with the numbers, but a new Battalion Commander, with aspirations of
someday commanding an Armored Brigade, distanced himself from the Boy Scout
Troop with the "wicked numbers". The rest of the unit did the same,
leaving parents and a small number of new Scouts without much to go on.=20

Us kids had another name for the Troop...we just called it "sick-sick-sick".=
=20

So it was Paul Boals that asked me to please consider lending my leadership
and guidance to this Troop on its deathbed. It had no boys senior enough to
serve as its leader. It's a relatively new Troop and "you can do wonders
helping out the Scoutmaster", an enlisted soldier that was a Scout but never
a Scouter. Paul wanted me to serve as its Senior Patrol Leader, the usually
elected boy leader of the Troop, until they can get on their feet.=20

I agreed, telling him that I would do it after I became Eagle and only for
six months. By then, I reasoned, they would be experienced enough to elect
their own Senior Patrol Leader.=20

It was fun to once again take a Troop from the ground up, just Iike I did
with Troop 801, and to build it back up!! I talked two other Scouts from
other Troops into "jumping over" to Troop 666. Don Scobie and Kermit Olive
knew me from high school JROTC. They became my Assistant Senior Patrol
Leader and Troop Scribe, respectively.=20

Several times during the fall and winter, we would sit around and imagine
taking a brand new Troop and finding other senior boys...and REALLY make the
Troop "the best one on Post". With all of that talent, skills and egos going
"...why shouldn't we be the best??" We were satisfied with just getting the
twelve or so young boys in 666 ready for the Spring Camporee and summer=
camp.=20

My fellow Troop 801 Scouts didn't like one of their senior boys "working for
the competition". I missed them and while they understood why I went over to
"that other Troop", several called me "traitor". I had to endure that during
the Spring Camporee, which in the spring of 1976, was held at Freeman Lake
in E-Town. It did not help things when Troop 666 earned three red and a blue
ribbon during the weekend's competition -- a better performance overall than
Troop 801.=20

Despite the successes at the Spring Camporee and the best intentions of the
Post Chapel, Troop 666 cased it's colors and merged with Troop 801 in April
of 1976. Don left 666 to go back to Troop 128; "Kevin" Olive left Scouting
altogether. The boys from the old Troop 666 became the Wolf Patrol of Troop
801. I was reelected, despite my "defection", as Senior Patrol
Leader.=20

I was also elected to the Order of the Arrow, Scouting's national honorary,
from Troop 801. This time, I accepted the election.=20

Settummanque!=20

(MAJ) Mike L. Walton (Settummanque, the blackeagle) (
co-Owner, Blackeagle Services of Kentucky (502.826.7046) __)_
174 Chapelwood Drive, Henderson, Kentucky 42420-5036 | ** |]
(H) 502.827.9201 (F) 502.826.7046 (W) 888.284.4848 (yea!) coffee?
anytime!
(Email) blkeagle@midwest.net/kyblkeagle@AOL.COM
(WWW) http://www.vhm.com/~uscardnl/index.htm
"Geoworks & Leaders' Online--because EVERY PC can open doors!!!"

• Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]
• Next message
• Previous message