LNT vs military camping; was Need Advice
Alpvalsys@AOL.COM
Fri, 29 Jan 1999 11:59:40 EST
In a message dated 99-01-29 08:01:36 EST, Patrick Thompson wrote:
<< NeilLup@AOL.COM wrote:
> 3) We will be teaching our Scouts skills which they can use all their
lives in
> the out of doors. As LNT experts, they can go anywhere while with
traditional
> camping, they may be more prepared for military maneuvers.
Excuse me???! Why would one think that a point of scouting is to
prepare a scout for military maneuvers? >>
Patrick,
You're absolutely correct. The military is much more efficient than any
Scout
troop that goes into the field; there is no way you'd ever be able to confuse
the
two of them. I know about both of them. I've been doing Scout camping for
eight
years and I was, some time ago, assigned to a Division Supply & Transportation
Battalion. We used to be able to send the entire division out using no more
vehicles than I've seen some troops use for a weekend campout. Okay; you
could tell the army had been there when the division went back to barracks,
but
you can usually tell when a Scout troop has been to a campsite, too.
National's adoption of the LNT principles is a good first step; now all we
have to
do is train every Scout and Scouter in the practice of LNT. That is not going
to
be easy.but, until it is done, we will be closer to the military's "maximum
impact"
theory than we are to LNT's respect for the land. But that's just my opinion;
I
could be wrong (not likely).
Ralph V. Balfoort, Unit Commissioner
Albany, NY
I used to be a Beaver.... (NE III-135)
In the Beaver Patrol as a Scout, too,
and now Ktemaque (Beaver) Chapter,
Ganienkeh Lodge #19, OA
