CAB ensures success at Boy Scouts’ Camp

Photo By Matthew Manning | Luis J. Cortez, a Boy Scout with Troop 118 from Okinawa, reshapes a piece of rebar at the metalworking merit badge station during a weeklong camp at Kin Blue April 12. The camp was the first Cortez has participated in since arriving on Okinawa.  

KIN BLUE BEACH TRAINING AREA, OKINAWA, JAPAN

04.13.2012

Story by Lance Cpl. Matthew Manning 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

OKINAWA, Japan - Combat Assault Battalion recently made going camping in Okinawa a unique experience for Boy Scout participants and an excellent training opportunity for the Marines.

More than 150 Boy Scouts and staff members in the Boy Scouts of America’s Far East Council were able to attend a weeklong camp due to the efforts of 75 Marines with CAB, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, at Kin Blue Beach Training Area April 8-14.

“We are supporting the Boy Scouts with clean water for drinking and showering,” said Lance Cpl. Dustin P. Turner, a water support technician with CAB. “We also provided them with tents, air conditioning and refrigeration units needed for this camp to be a success.”

The equipment the Marines brought to process the water proved to be more than enough for the camp, according to Turner.

“We are actually using two different systems out here this week,” said Turner. “We have our lightweight water processing system, which can make 60 gallons of clean water ever hour. This is for a platoon to company-sized group. We also have our tactical water processing system here, which is for a company to battalion-sized group. This system makes 1,200 gallons every hour, so we have more than enough water for everyone.”

Organizing a camp for the Boy Scouts outside the U.S. can be challenging.

“Back in the states, the Boy Scouts of America are able to use resident camps that are already set up with everything we need,” said Renny S. McDermett, camp program director for the Far East Council. “Here in Okinawa, we just do not have that luxury.”

This camp was the first for many of the scouts since arriving on Okinawa.

“I just got to Okinawa and (I) am new to this troop,” said Luis J. Cortez, a Boy Scout with Troop 118 from Okinawa. “I have had a lot of fun at this camp. At first, I thought we would not be able to take showers the whole week, so the showers they have here are nice.”

In order to provide something like this for the children it is essential to have the support of the military, according to McDermett.

“The Marines have been outstanding. Without their support this camp would have been impossible,” he said.

“I have never seen a harder-working bunch of young men,” said Justin Wentworth, a camp director with the Far East Council. “They have helped us with anything and everything we need.”

This is the first time CAB Marines have supported civilians as part of a training exercise.

“We have never had a training event like this,” said Turner. “Usually we come out here and support other units doing training, so this is the first time where our training is supporting civilians.”

However, Marines with CAB have focused their training to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, according to Turner.

“Being able to have an exercise where we are providing water to civilians has really helped us see and experience what it might be like when we respond to a crisis,” said Turner.

The Marines were not the only ones to benefit from this event.
“This is a special opportunity for the scouts,” said McDermett. “It gives them the chance to see what it is like for Marines to be at work. Many of their parents are Marines and being able to see Marines at work helps build a better family bond by giving the children some insight to what their parents do every day.”

• Date Taken: 04.13.2012
• Date Posted: 04.19.2012 20:41
• Story ID: 87017
• Location: KIN BLUE BEACH TRAINING AREA, OKINAWA, JP