Army Artillery Camp
Fort Sill, OK, December '00

By Anthony R., Troop Historian

If you didn’t go to Fort Sill you missed a good time. 

On Friday when we got there we picked out our rooms.  I was with Chris J., Nick B., Torey R., Jerrod G. and Chris M.  We put all of our gear in the lockers and set up our sleeping bags and went to bed.

On Saturday we woke up at 5:00 a.m., boy was that early!  We went to eat breakfast.  Following that was Missile Park where we could climb and look at the missiles and missile trucks.  Also, across the street were the Operation Dessert Storm vehicles.  Then we went to the Fort Sill Museum where we watched a movie that talked about the founder and past of Fort Sill.  Following that was lunch.  Shortly after we went to the barracks (cabin) and changed, into our swim suits then went to the base’s gym.  I went to play basketball in the pool.  It was adults against kids.  Mr. Brouster was a big problem, he would always steal the ball right out of your hands or strip the ball from you, but we (kids) won 100-0.  NOT!!  I wish though, but anyway it was fun.

On Sunday we woke up at 5 a.m. again and went to eat breakfast.  When we got our stuff packed we went over to the Hum V.  The guides gave us a pen and a M.R.E. which means Meal Ready to Eat.  I got spaghetti and Meatloaf.  After that we got to ride in the Hum V.  Shortly after we went to the New Post Church and had services.  We went back to the barracks and then said thank you to the guides and left. 

And then, from the Scoutmaster's point of view:

For our camping experience this month, we visited Ft. Sill. We stayed in an old barracks. No cold hard ground to camp on this time.  We also had another group of Webelos from Pack 599 along with us.  Our time slot at the mess hall was 0630. The first morning the guys got awakened boot camp style with banging trash cans at 0500. It was real early, but I really did not hear anyone complaining. The meals were great. Lots of food and most of it was pretty good!

Saturday morning we spent touring the Post. We looked at a variety of missiles that the army has used over the years. Right next to that was a display of artillery pieces and a tank that the army captured in the Gulf war. Following that we toured the Ft. Sill Museum and a little bit of the original officers housing which is all original from the 1800's when the Post was first built. After a big lunch we burned off some energy and then went to the Reinhart Center which is the big Athletic complex. We had several boys complete some of their swimming requirements for first class. Most of the Webelos joined in and also completed these requirements. Thanks to Betsy D. who was a huge help in survival swimming. A big group of boys and adults played water basketball. Many played racquetball and other activities which were available. Right after all of that it was time to eat again. Nobody really felt like eating, but it seemed like everyone ate big anyway.

We voted on whether to go bowling or to a movie, it was nearly unanimous for bowling so we all went rather than splitting up. The afternoon at the sports center started kicking in about the time everyone finished their first game. As I looked around when we started, everyone was standing up and cheering each others scores.  By the time the second game came around, I noticed that the cheers were mostly done while sitting down and leaning back. Back at the barracks, although I set a lights out time, everyone had already settled down before it arrived. Sunday morning, before we went to Church, the Sergeants arranged for all the boys to take a short ride in a HummVee and they passed out MRE's to all the boys. Has everyone eaten their yet?

All in all it was a pretty good trip. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.