Fun Scouting Takes Place at the National Jamboree

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The National Scout Jamboree 2017 is filled with all sorts of activities for scouts and scouters to participate in. Some of these activities include ziplining, water sports, hiking, a spartan race, a military exhibition, and so much more. Some of these activities are obviously more rigorous or rugged than others, like the spartan race, and some can be extremely fun and include little work, like water sports and ziplining.

The zipline program consists of several different areas, one of them is a canopy tour, another is regular ziplining, and another is a ropes course. To take part in the ziplining you must take the prerequisite safety course, hike your gear to the launching point, get hooked up with your zipping gear, and get pushed off of the tower. Even though the hike is around 30 minutes long, it is well worth the effort for the minute you get on the zipline.

Going on the ropes course is much more simple than the ziplines, you get your safety course and gear hooked up on site, and are given an allotted time for how long you can be on the course. Last but not least, the canopy tour is a long zip tour that you are sent around the Summit Bechtel Reserve forest canopy. These activities can be experiences of a lifetime that help make the NSJ a fun and exciting adventure for scouts.

The military exhibition consists of all five branches of the U.S. military (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard), and the West Virginia National Guard as well as WV State Troopers. They show these scouts a piece of the U.S. military and what kinds of jobs you can have. Each one of the branches had different exhibits. They all had physical fitness mock tests, the Army had basic military, ROTC, and Special Forces. The Navy had a ship simulation. The Marine Corps had a shooting simulation and MARSOC (Marine Special Operations Command) come and demonstrate. The Coast Guard had an entire activity field full of boats and simulations for scouts. And the Air Force had a mock AC-130. The main goal of these activities is to interest scouts in the military and have scouts become soldiers, sailors, airmen, guards, or Marines to make the military better (because Boy Scouts are always experienced in leadership, especially Eagle Scouts).

There were many activities for these scouts to choose at the NSJ and the BSA is both proud and happy to have such a wonderful, 10-day event at the Summit Bechtel Reserve.

Editor’s note: Jack Marlow is a member of Boy Scout Troop 47 in Fairhope. He is attending the National Jamboree and serving as a “BSA Hometown Correspondent” at the event. He will file regular reports from the Jamboree.