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Troop 240, Bronx, N.Y. Join Our Guest Book "The Eagle's Nest" |
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Troop 240, Bronx, N.Y. Join Our Guest Book "The Eagle's Nest" |
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http://www.angelfire.com/il2/StAlphonsusScouts/
YIS,
Steve Budde
ASM Troop 889
First of all, I joined Scouting in Troop 70 in 1971, at age 11. We were in the Highbridge Area of the Bronx, near Yankee Stadium. It was a dark, dangerous and dismal time for the community. Crime was rampant.
My whole knowledge of the world was of my small neighborhood, where drugs were everywhere. Robberies, murders and police corruption could be seen everyday in the streets. My idea of water sports was a sprinkler cap and a fire hydrant. Of my childhood friends many are dead, or now reside in Rikers Island or Attica.
Many of my troop members were residents of the projects, or surrounding dwellings.
Scouts took me away from that. They showed me the woods, where I had known only concrete survival. They taught me values and group dynamics. It gave me an escape from the misery of my decaying home.
Transferring to another local Troop 219 under Fred Jarecki, I learned to swim -- really learned to swim. This later became critical as I pressed the limits of my physical abilities at Annapolis and later in water survival training at Pensacola.
Troop Leader Development taught me basics about management. The whole scouting program taught me stick-tu-it-ism.
Scouting taught me initiative. That if a job had to be done, either manage it, or do it yourself- it is always your own responsibility.
Moving to Riverdale in 1975, I joined Troop 240 as a Star Scout -- again with Fred Jarecki.
It helped me in High School organize a campaign, as I got elected president of my student body at Aviation High School.
Eagle Scout is as much a character trait as it is an award. At the Naval Academy admissions center I later found out that you are generously rewarded for completing Eagle Scout, where you are penalized for entering scouting and not completing the program.
It provided critical decision logic and communications skills for me. Most of all it provided character in the face of adversity.
After graduation from Annapolis it let me see the need to be instrumental in cleaning up the US Navy's post-Viet Nam drug problems, as I processed dozens of troops out of the Navy for drug involvement as a Legal Officer. This process was little different from the boards that you run and participate in the scouting program. This revitalization by eliminating drugs was crucial in our stand off with the Soviet Union and the successful victory in the cold war.
Scouting teaches you initiative and the drive to over come. In 1988 we were at the brink of Nuclear War with the Soviet Union- as their economy was collapsing. I stood ready as a nuclear weapons delivery officer and anti-submarine warfare mission commander to protect us.
After the 1988 tour, I was invited to apply to be a mission specialist with the astronaut program, because of innovative work on our aircraft's electronic warfare systems during actions against Libya. These efforts were not that dis-similar to the Troop Leader Development guide to discovery.
Going through the selection board, which would have transitioned me to the astronaut program, I was transitioned to Tactical Electronic Warfare -- the EA-6B Prowler.
On January 16th 1991, I walked into a ready room filled with young officers on the Aircraft Carrier USS Ranger. As I look back now, they all seem so young.
The room was filled with former scouts -- many of the pilots and aircrew were former Eagle Scouts. These are young men who could have been anywhere, on Wall Street, in Law School. That night they stood together to protect the nation. Seven of the men from the Ranger would not live another year, either killed in action or aircraft accidents.
When we flew North that night over the Persian Gulf we would be part of the greatest air armada the United States had ever created. Many of us believed that our losses would be much worse than they actually were. It is there where our commitment to the community, to our families and our nation were most important. The first several days combat was intense. As we lost aircrew in combat, these young men had to reach deep inside of themselves to go back- again and again and again.
Scouting provides a morale fiber for us, in a day where Duty, Honor and Country means so little. Where presidents of our nation are not role models.
Since leaving the military, I have been working on improving our homeland defense in transferring military communications technology to emergency services. I had long envisioned the attacks of September 11th -- which was not only the bloodiest day for New York City, but with 17 Annapolis Graduates dead at the Pentagon, it was U.S. Naval Academy's Bloodiest.
The President is about to sign a National Pipeline Mapping system into law, which I had conceptualized. This will force all 45,000 U.S. fire, police, medical and HAZMAT organizations to share a simple piece of infrastructure protection information. It will also force the nation towards a single Emergency Services Command and Control Structure- which would prevent the huge losses of fire and police at the World Trade Center, while reducing civilian losses.
Many lose faith. Somehow, as we muddle through very complex social and technical problems, I reach deep inside myself, to separate right from wrong. I go back to basics of scouting. In that I find that our best course of action is laid in the foundations of our lives. Scouting provides just that.
It was nostalgic looking through the names on the Eagle Scout list. Some names are those I looked to for role models, others those who I still see as very young children, just beginning the scouting program.
For all of you who now lead the troop as parents and board members, especially the Scoutmaster Mr. Joseph Acquafredda, you have my thanks for providing the children of the Bronx an outlet and opportunity which will undoubtedly shape their lives.
In my day I have carried with me pieces of my experiences with the Scouts, with Troop 240 and with the late Fred Jarecki, and others -- some of whom I still have a great admiration for.
For the scouts of Troop 240, I hope that you will stay with the program through Eagle Scout and carry with you the fortitude that scouting takes to finish as an Eagle Scout.
Troop 240 has another and greater role in the Bronx- that of tradition and commitment to the community. New York was devastated by crime, troop 240 was there. Devestated by drugs, troop 240 was there. New York was devastated by terrorism, still troop 240 is there. Few institutions have stood this test of time. Keep it up. -- Mike Roskind
If so, let me know and I'll see you there ... along with 25,000 other scouts and guides.
Thank you
Yours in Scouting,
Christopher Chua
Hopefully we can be as good as you someday. We have 12 scouts in our Troop! -- Waide Goggin, ASM
