From the Scoutmaster's perspective

Our trip to Ft. Sill was a blast. The sergeant who was our escort had us on a pretty rigid schedule, but also had us doing some things we have not had an opportunity to do at Ft. Sill before. Our mess hall assignment was not one with recruits in boot camp, but instead it had very few people and we kind of had the run of the place. We started Saturday with the usual visit to the museum. Our guide was excellent. He had lots of good stories and knew the history, but was also aware as to when the Scouts began to be bored and knew to move on.

The highlight of the trip was right after lunch when we got to visit the motor pool and have a hands-on tour of a mobile howitzer. After a brief description of the features and capabilities, the Scouts were permitted to climb in, on and around the vehicle. Our guides put Scouts in the drivers and commanders seats, let them talk on the communications system, showed them how the gun targets, etc., etc. After lots of free time with the howitzer, the guide had everyone move back and then Frani took a really fast test run around the parking lot. By the time we finished, we were late for swimming, but no one really seemed to care.

Saturday evening we spent a couple of hours at the recreation center playing pool, foosball, and video and board games. Some of the parents caught up on reading. After that, we were off to the bowling alley. Luckily for Mr. Brouster, they had a big screen TV with the Big XII Championship game on.

Sunday morning, our leadership Scouts gave everyone a boot camp wake up.

  -- Allen