FORT A.P. HILL, Va. (Army News Service, July 28, 2010) -- During the first full day of the National Scout Jamboree here, July 27, thousands of young men across America participated in learning activities and earned merit badges -- some with the help of Soldiers.
Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Huizar, a drill sergeant from Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., helped Scouts learn to turn twine into rope, to lash logs together, and to turn wood and rope into a bridge -- all part of earning the pioneering merit badge.
"It's pretty much wilderness survival, how to make tools and pretty much getting back to the roots of rope-making and getting crafty with your surroundings," Huizar said of the skills he was helping Scouts learn. "The biggest part of pioneering is that it's all teamwork. Hardly any of this stuff do you want to do on your own. You're going to need teamwork development".
Behind Huizar, with the assistance of adult civilian mentors and other Soldiers, two young men used crude wooden tools to twist thin strands of twine into thicker ropes.
One of the boys, Zach, with the Troop 714 of Fairbanks, Alaska, was well into earning his Pioneering Badge -- a process that takes as many as four hours of listening, learning and teamwork.
"It's a lot more work than I thought it was going to be," Zach said.
Zach, at his first Jamboree, said he wasn't entirely sure what other badges he hoped to earn while there, though he added there's opportunity to earn badges back at home. What's not so readily available to him in Alaska, he said, are some of the activities young men from the warmer southern states enjoy -- activities that are available and prove popular at the Jamboree.
"I'm mostly trying to do things I can't do in Fairbanks," he said. "Like the fun stuff like scuba diving and snorkeling".
Scouts like Zach work to achieve merit badges in skills like metalwork, electronics, first aid or radio. More than 125 such badges exist to be earned, and opportunities are available at the Jamboree to earn about 100 of those. Learning, developing skills, and earning an associated merit badge is one way Scouts can achieve the top Scouting rank of Eagle Scout, an achievement, says Huizar, that has some similarities with being a Soldier.
"To be an Eagle Scout, there's a lot of the same requirements as for being a Soldier: land navigation, survival skills and stuff like that," said Huizar. He also pointed out additional similarities. Holding in his hand a dog tag engraved with the Army Values and the Warrior Ethos, he said "this is something we give to a Soldier when they graduate basic training. And we give them to the Scouts too, because our values are pretty much the same as their values".
Staff Sgt. Daniel Bath, stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., was at the Jamboree to help Scouts earn their climbing merit badge.
Bath said Scouts will learn calls used while rock climbing and belaying, different ropes used for climbing, tying of knots, as well as safety. After classroom instruction and demonstrating new skills with ropes and safety, the Scouts will get to try their climbing skills on a climbing wall.
"They'll be climbing on (the rock wall) until they're sick of it," Bath said. "They have to climb at least three routes, but they can climb until they're done".
Bath said he was a boy scout himself, and about 13 years ago, he came to the Jamboree.
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