Scouts and Leadership – Response to Monday Blog Post
October 17th, 2008
Dr. Ignatius Piazza,
GREAT, FANTASTIC! You can’t imagine how much good you have done by your work with the Scouts. When my sons were Scout age I helped run an Explorer Post. Here is some more information regarding the value of the Scouting Program.
- During WWII Gen. Eisenhower realized that there was a vast shortage of junior officers (Lieutenants) ordered that all enlisted mens’ personnel records be examined to locate any who were (prior to enlistment) Eagle Scouts. Realizing the leadership these men had thus previously demonstrated they were to be immediately issued battlefield commissions.
- Upon receiving an appointment to one of our military academies one is not assured of getting enrolled as there are more appointments given than spaces available. There is a point system; those with the highest number do. Various aspects are awarded points: grade point average, curriculum, athletics, and LEADERSHIP among others. Regarding LEADERSHIP; high school student body president receives 3 points; Eagle Scout, 25 points.
Also from personal background I can report the following:
- I was a Parole & Probation Officer for the State of Florida for about 12 -13 years and as such, over that time frame supervised an estimated, approximately 3,000 criminals. As best I remember, only 3 had significant scouting experience as a youth, and, if my memory also serves me correctly those three were business men whom had made a rather stupid error (which obviously was illegal) rather than the evil intent which is characteristic of most criminals. That makes a statistic of 3/10s of 1 percent which is a heck of a lot better than any other group that can be identified.
After reading about your working with the scouts, I felt compelled to share this with you, and, add my sincere appreciation for what you’ve done.
Sincerely,
Fred I.
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