Boy Scouts living up to their motto

Though the chance of a terrorist attack on Warren County is probably slim, local Boy Scouts are currently working on their preparedness skills, much like their official governmental counterparts. Troop 631, under the tutelage of Scoutmaster Kelly McVey and assistant Scoutmaster Matt Davis, performed a mobilization drill Thursday as a part of the troop’s affiliation with the Red Cross and the Warren County Rescue Squad.

“In case of a disaster they wanted us to put a kitchen and a shelter up for the workers,” McVey said.

According to McVey, Troop 631 is made up of around 34 scouts ranging from 11 to 18 years of age.

The mobilization exercise was organized to test the troop’s readiness to respond to any sort of emergency situation in accord with local emergency personnel.

McVey said the drill was instituted much like it would be in an actual emergency situation, and was, as much as possible, a surprise run for the scouts.

Around a dozen scouts answered the call, meeting at the First Methodist Outreach Center, then moving to the back parking lot of McMinnville Civic Center where the shelter was to be set up. In an actual emergency, the mobilization could conceivably be called to any part of the county to support, for example, a water rescue or search for a missing person.

McVey was pleased with the variety of the turnout for the drill.

“We’ve got some of our 11-year-olds, and we’ve got some of our almost 18-year-olds,” he said, “so we’ve got the full range of ages.”

The mobilization was also part of a merit badge program for the scouts.

“Matt Davis is teaching a Merit Badge which is emergency preparedness, being ready for emergencies,” McVey said, “and one of the requirements is doing a troop mobilization. So we’re going to do a mobilization, which, at this time, might not be a bad idea, having the storms like we did recently.”

Though the times weren’t quite as good as the troop leaders had hoped, the boys still did a credible job of setting up the shelter and lighting the stove and lantern, and all of them seemed to enjoy the exercise and felt it was a good learning experience.

“In case of an emergency it’s always important to be prepared,” said senior patrol leader Garrett Martin, “and that’s what these boys are learning right now. Especially with us going into war this week, this could be a very possible scenario in case something did happen.”