Venturing Court of Honor

Venturing Court of Honor

WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER

(PRESIDENT)

My name is (PRESIDENT), and I am President of Venturing Crew 761. Thank you all for joining us this evening as we recognize the accomplishments of Crew 761 and of the Venturing program.

I’m going to begin by giving a really short training. Like Girl and Boy Scouts, Venturers have a sign and salute. Our sign is made with a raised right hand, with the palm open. The right thumb is slightly open creating a “V”. The elbow is bent at a 900 angle. It is used for silence, attention and when we give our oath. Our salute is the standard American full hand salute. All Scouts and Scouters are invited to use these while participating in Venturing activities, regardless of the uniform they are wearing; the same way Venturers use the appropriate signs for the program area they are participating in.

PRESENTATION OF THE COLORS

(PRESIDENT)

Everyone, please stand. Color Guard, present the colors.

Scouts salute.

(Color Guard enters from the back of the room carrying US, Virginia, WOSM and Crew flags, walks slowly in single file half the length of the room apart, toward the front, and turns to face the audience, dipping the Virginia, WOSM and Crew flags below that of the US while (TREASURER) plays a processional.)

Will you all please join in the Pledge of Allegiance. Salute! PLEDGE... Tu!

Will (VICE PRESIDENT - ADMINISTRATION) please come forward to give the invocation.

INVOCATION

(VICE PRESIDENT - ADMINISTRATION) INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS (PRESIDENT)

Please be seated.

I would like to introduce some special guests and to thank them publicly for taking time out of their busy schedules to share in the accomplishment of our Crew:

(Guests named here)

Most important, everyone in this room, because you have all played a part in our success and if it weren’t for each and every one of you, we wouldn’t need a recognition night at all; thank you all again for coming.

HISTORY OF VENTURING

(VICE PRESIDENT - PROGRAM)

We are going to begin with a brief history of Venturing. Will those participating please come forward:

(A gold candle should be lit, and the 3 green candles should be in place and ready to light)

Venturing was officially born on August 1, 1998, after being introduced at the National Exploring Leadership Conference held in Washington DC in July of that year. It is the newest program area of the Boy Scouts of America, for young men and women between the ages of 14 and 20 years old. We want you to understand clearly the full significance of the ideals by which Venturers live and through which we achieve worthy citizenship. Before you a golden flame burns constantly. This golden flame symbolizes a Venturer’s honor, which must never be dimmed. When youth take the Venturing oath, they are placing their honor, the brightest thing in their lives, before their fellow Venturers, Scouting officials, parents, families and friends. A youth without honor is like a bird without wings. So it is a serious thing to give the Venturing oath “on one’s honor”.

(VICE PRESIDENT - ADMINISTRATION)

From the golden flame of a Venturer’s honor, the first green flame is lighted...Duty to God and Country...Many Venturers serve in the armed services of our Country, keeping our values and ideals intact.

(TREASURER)

We light the second green flame of duty to other people. We are of an age to make a difference in the world around us by helping others live up to their potential.

(SCRIBE)

We light the third green flame of duty to self, for if we do not care for ourselves and hold our minds and bodies in high esteem; we have failed in upholding Venturing’s ideals and values.

(PRESIDENT) Will all Venturers and Scouts please rise and join in the Venturing Oath, which can be found on the back of your program. Sign’s up...

As a Venturer, I promise to help strengthen America, to be faithful in my religious duties, to help others, and to seek truth, fairness, and adventure in our world.

Tu

(TREASURER) The golden flame continues to burn and to light our way along the adventurous trail of Venturing. Our methods are simple:

(Use white candles for the following)

1. The voluntary association between youth and adults introducing new ways of thinking and acting and a new identity as a responsible young adult.
2. Ethical Decision making to help make effective choices in truth and fairness.
3. Group Activities when an experience’s success or failure is dependent on the cooperation of all.
4. Recognition of achievement by peers, adults and the community to help us recognize our own competence and ability
5. Democratic process to provide exposure to the democratic ideals and skills needed throughout life.
6. Venturing which is the opportunity to use our sense of curiosity, to explore our world and to adventure forth into adulthood.

VICE President – Program To achieve our goals we have six experience areas, which we use to maximize the Venturing experience:

1. Citizenship to encourage price in our American heritage
2. Social to encourage a sense of family and community responsibility
3. Leadership to fulfill our responsibilities to American society and to all the peoples of our world
4. Outdoors to develop self-reliance based on courage, initiative and resourcefulness in the protection of our environment
5. Service to gain a respect for the basic rights of others
6. Fitness to hone mental, emotional and physical skills and the ability to make ethical decisions.

(PRESIDENT) Do these candles burning here remind you of Scouting ceremonies you’ve seen before? Do the three points of our oath remind you of Boy or Girl Scouts? They should, we are after all just another program area of the International Scouting movement, of which we are extremely proud.

HISTORY OF RANGERS AND CREW 761

(SCRIBE)

The history of the American Ranger is a long and colorful saga of courage daring, and outstanding leadership. It is a story of men whose outdoor skills have seldom been surpassed.
Captain Benjamin Church who brought the Indian conflict known as King Philip’s war to a successful conclusion in 1675 employed the first Rangers.

Venturer #1

In 1756 during the French and Indian war, Rangers were organized under the famous major Robert Rogers. With a force of 200 Rangers, traveling by boat and over land, Rogers covered 400 miles in about 60 days. Penetrating deep into enemy territory and despite losses en route, the Rangers attacked and destroyed the fierce Abenaki Indians, which were never a threat again.

Venturer #2

On June 14, 1775, with war on the horizon, the continental congress resolved that "six companies of expert riflemen be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia." In 1777, this force of hardy frontiersmen provided the leadership and experiences necessary to form, under Daniel Morgan; the organization George Washington called "the corps of Rangers". During the war of 1812, congress called for the Rangers to serve on the frontier. The December 28, 1813 army register lists officers for 12 companies of Rangers.

Venturer #3

Loudoun is rich in Ranger history, such as Confederate Colonel John Mosby's Rangers, which grew to eight companies of Rangers by 1865. On one of his raids, Mosby employed a force of nine men that attacked and routed an entire union regiment in its bivouac. Though less colorful and lesser known, the Loudoun Rangers based in Waterford and environs stayed loyal to the Union, and fought in many battles on the side of the North.

Venturer #4

During the Second World War, Rangers were everywhere. Darby’s Rangers spearheaded the north African invasion at the port of Arzew, Algeria by a silent night landing, and in 1943, they led General George Patton’s drive to capture the heights of El Guettar with a twelve-mile night march across mountainous terrain surprising the enemy positions from the rear. Rudder's Rangers carried out the most desperate and dangerous missions of the Omaha Beach D-Day landings when they assaulted the perpendicular cliffs of Point du Hoc under intense machine gun, mortar and artillery fire and destroyed the large gun batteries that would have destroyed the allied fleet offshore. Merrill’s marauders supported the Chinese army with a 1000-mile penetration through extremely dense and almost impenetrable jungles behind Japanese lines.

Venturer #5

In 1950, hostilities broke out in Korea with a surprise invasion of thousands of North Korean troops. America's peacetime army reacted swiftly to this new threat and over 5000 soldier volunteers were trained as Rangers. Within 6 months from the start of the conflict, the first American Rangers landed on the Korean peninsula. They were nomadic warriors performing the "out front" work of scouting, patrolling, raids, ambushes, spearheading assaults, and counterattack forces to regain lost postpositions.

Venturer #6

During the Vietnam war, Ranger companies were assigned to major combat commands as an elite reconnaissance element to provide the intelligence needed to find a very elusive enemy that fought a sustained battle when and where he chose. Typical Ranger missions included locating enemy bases and lines of communication. Special missions included wiretap, prisoner snatch, bomb damage assessment, and ambushes. The helicopter served as the Ranger's primary means of insertion into enemy territory. Other methods included foot, wheeled, tracked vehicles, airboats, navy swift boats, and stay behind missions where Rangers stayed in place as a larger tactical unit withdrew. As a result of heroic actions in Vietnam, three army Rangers were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Venturer #8

Since Vietnam, Rangers have led the way at various hot spots throughout the world. Rangers were part of the aborted Iranian hostage rescue force in 1980. Rangers parachuted in and secured airfields in both Grenada as part of Operation Urgent Fury in 1983, and in Panama as part of Operation Just Cause in 1984. During Desert Storm, Rangers moved into Iraq weeks before the initial assault of the ground combat forces and gathered intelligence that significantly contributed to the success of the allied effort. In 1993, Rangers were deployed to Somalia to assist United Nations forces to bring order to a desperately chaotic and starving nation. Today, Rangers are fighting to protect us from new forms of evil, and are at the forefront of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

(SCRIBE)

Our Crew, Venturing Crew 761, was established in November 2000, and we held our first meeting in January 2001. Today, we are some 22 youth strong, 40% of which are young women. Our Crew provides positive experiences to help us mature and prepare to become responsible and caring adults. The result is a program of exciting and meaningful activities that help us pursue our special interests – to grow, to develop leadership skills, and to become good citizens. So far, we have spelunked, camped, skied, backpacked, rode horses, honed our First Aid and life saving skills, orienteered, mountaineered, enjoyed Hershey Park, attended or worked the National Jamboree, toured a submarine and aircraft carrier, earned our Scuba certifications, driven motorboats and water-skied, and marched in the annual Columbus Day parade. And we have done this together – not as 2 groups representing different genders, but as a single cohesive, diverse amalgamation of incredible talent and will. We have been training for our summer 2002 expedition for months, when 24 of us will travel to the Florida Keys and Scuba dive for over a week at the Florida SeaBase, one of only 3 BSA high adventure bases in America. And today, we are holding our first Court of Honor, where we are presenting our first awards, these being the Venturing Bronze award. That puts us in line to have our first Ranger awards, the highest Venturing awards, sometime in late 2002 or early 2003.

AWARDS

Advisor

As advisor it is my pleasure to recognize the youth of Crew 761 who have put in much time and effort to earn various awards. As I call your name, please come forward.

(Read each name separately and list their training and special awards.)

Could Asst. Advisor #1 and #2 please come forward.

It is now my pleasure to recognize those Venturers who have invested the time and effort to achieve the first goal of the Outdoor curriculum, the Bronze award. Unlike in Boy and Girl Scout Troops where all of the scouts are working together to earn their advancement, Venturers work on their own for the Bronze awards that interest them, with very little support from the youth, the advisors or the committee. These awards taken a lot of work and time, and require a good deal of knowledge and skills.

As I call your name, would your parents please come forward as well.

(Introduce each recipient and present them with the Bronze award, with a brief description of what is required or what special effort they put in)

Our Assistant Advisors will now explain the requirements of the Silver Award:

Asst. Advisor #1 The Bronze award identifies Venturers who:

/ Have direction in their lives
/ Know how to plan and accomplish goals
/ Are skilled
/ Live the Venturing oath
/ Are leaders
/ Are willing to serve others

Asst. Advisor #2The requirements to earn the Bronze Award are not easy. Bronze candidates have their crew Advisor or a specialty consultant approve or sign off completed requirements. The requirements for the Outdoor Bronze Award are in the Ranger Guidebook. There is no committee review for the Venturing Bronze Award.Advisor I now ask all Venturers present to please stand, and join in silently, as these recipients repeat the Venturing Code and ask that you reflect on the meaning of the pledge they are taking:

As a Venturer, I believe in America’s strength lies in our trust in God and in the courage, strength, and traditions of our people.

I will therefore be faithful in my religious duties and will maintain a personal sense of honor in my own life.

I will treasure my American heritage and will do all I can to preserve and enrich it.

I will recognize the dignity and worth of all humanity and will use fair play and goodwill in my daily life.

I will acquire the Venturing attitude that seeks the truth in all things and adventure on the frontiers of our changing world.

Would your mother please pin on your Bronze award.

Congratulations and we know you will continue to make us proud of you and will encourage the younger and newer Venturers to follow you on the upward claim you have helped to blaze.

PRESENTATION OF ADULT RECOGNITIONS

ADVISOR’S MINUTE Advisor

As we have completed the purpose for which we have gathered, I now close this Court of Honor. Will Crew President, (PRESIDENT), please resume with the program.

RETIRE THE COLORS

(PRESIDENT)

Congratulations on behalf of all of us on the great job you have done. We are real proud of you and want to present a lot more recognitions next year.

Will (VP Administration) please come forward to give the benediction...

Color Guard, please retire the color.