Scouting and Military Schools

[ScoutBox 11]

I read not only Scouting Mag but also my son's Boy's Life Mag each month, and I see all of the publicity in the back about Military Schools and Scouting.

 

How do Military Schools charter Scout Troops, and Crews? I was wondering how they run scouting. Do they let it be Boy Lead, with boys voting for PLs etc.. or do they use the current rank system and then only allow ranked boys hold leadership positions.

[clemlaw 55]

I've also wondered about those ads. I could be wrong, but I assumed their intended message is, "if this whole Scouting thing isn't having the desired effect on Junior, send him to us and we'll take care of him."

 

But again, I could be wrong.

[ScoutBox 11]

Ha! ha! ha!.. yeah could be taking advantage of advertisement space..

[artjrk 11]

I grew up near two of those schools that advertise in the magazines. Interestingly enough. None of the cadets were in scouts. Even though our Troop's Scout hut was only 3 doors down from one of the schools.

 

Side note I did play a lot of soccer with them. Being as over 50% of the students were from Latin America. Which might be a reason why many did not join Scouts.

[ScouterAdam 11]

I went through a Private School that at one time was Military. The way it was/is set-up it was not possible. They had all their own programs and other commitments that did not allow for non-school activites. Plus, the libility would have been too much. Most of the kids there were from out of state, so Summercamps would not be possible.

 

Since the schools are 9 months, the program would be 9 months.

[desertrat77 1144]

For an interesting read, check out some old Boy's Life magazines, circa '60s, and you'll see page after page of military school ads. Most of these schools have since folded, but a few remain.

 

As I understand it, scouting was a staple at some of the schools. For example, the original buildings at the secret atomic lab at Los Alamos, NM, during WWII was a boys school before Uncle Sam acquired it. They used BSA principles as the part of their cirriculum. In fact, the uniform each day was the BSA uniform, with shorts, even during winter outdoor activities. Part of the school's program was to toughen the kids up, which explains the shorts.

 

(My source is a superb book on Los Alamos that I read earlier this year, but don't have the title and author at hand.)

 

Also, many years ago, there was a version of the Eagle medal that did not have the silver scroll a the top, just the silk ribbon and the pendant. This was designed for use at military schools so scouts could wear the Eagle medal with their other school medals, thus making the row of medals, well, more "uniform."

 

[SctDad 10]

I looked at Hargrave Military Academy one time just out of currosity. They apparently have an active scouting program. The only thing that I noticed is that you cannot bring knives to the academy. Looks like they are activly involved in Scouting to include the OA (there are some scheduling limitations with the OA)

 

That is just some of the information that I found.

 

http://www.hargrave.edu/grades_10_12/scouting.html