Coast Guard honors 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts

Tuesday, July 27, 2010
by: Christopher Lagan

Boy Scouts enter the Coast Guard Portal at the 2010 Boy Scout National Jamboree (U.S. Coast Guard photo by M. McCormack, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary)

This year, Boy Scouts of America is celebrating its 100th anniversary. A major part of that year-long celebration is the annual Boy Scout National Jamboree which began earlier this week. More than 130 volunteers from the Coast Guard family will join more than 41,000 Boy Scouts and Adult Leaders as part of the 2010 event.

Boy Scouts working in the damage control "wet tank" in the Coast Guard Portal. The wet tank, which teaches Scouts how to patch a hole in the hull of a boat, is just one of the many stations available as part of the Coast Guard Portal at the 2010 Boy Scout National Jamboree. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by M. McCormack, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary)

First held on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall in 1937, the Boy Scout Jamboree brings thousands of Scouts (and we’re told many alumni) together to celebrate the history of the Boy Scouts over ten days of camping, camraderie, team building and activities. Over the next week, Boy Scouts will walk through the Coast Guard Portal to hear more about the service, learn lifesaving maritime skills, and to earn as many as nine merit badges.

Designed to highlight many of the Coast Guard’s current missions, the Portal is will feature stations devoted to weapons training, environmental response, law enforcement, damage control, and, of course, boating safety. The Coast Guard Portal is part of the Armed Forces Adventure Area which provides Boy Scouts with a unique opportunity to explore potential military career paths in the years ahead.