A Georgia Girl in Germany

At this month’s Cub Scout Pack meeting, the boys had a "ranks" type inspection by Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Melvin Spiese, EUCOM’s Deputy Director of Strategy, Plans and Policy. So, Zachary made sure his uniform looked sharp and he was prepared to answer any questions asked of him.

The pack was divided into two formations after the honor guard presented the flag, and was soon standing at attention, ready for inspection. There were about 75 boys at the meeting, and Gen. Spiese took the time to ask each one of them several questions. Then his executive officer. Then one of his sharp noncommissioned officers. Talk about impressive! Then again, I think Marines are always impressive.

Gen. Spiese asked Zachary how long he’s been involved in Cub Scouts and where he participated in scouting before here. The other two Marines were interested in his vest and all his patches on it. The first questions were about his patch from the USS Lexington -- where is it (in Corpus Christi) and was it docked or out at sea when he slept aboard it (docked)? The final question was “How many patches do you have on your vest?” Zachary thought about it for a while, but since he wasn’t sure (we’ve never counted), he guessed around 30 and opened up his vest to show the additional patches on the inside that don’t fit on the outside. Pretty good improv answer.

After the inspection, Gen. Spiese gave the boys a few words of encouragement and motivation as they travel along their scouting paths, adding that most Marine recruits who perform best at boot camp have one thing in common: they were all Eagle Scouts. I’ve heard similar comments about the other services as well. What a wonderful testament to the scouting program!

When we got home, we counted 49 patches on Zachary’s vest, not including the three more still to add.

What a wonderful opportunity for the boys to take pride in the Cub Scout program and further build the concepts of citizenship and community.

Labels: Cub Scouts, Zachary