West Point Scoutmasters' Council

For Troops Arriving Today, please see the attached arrival guidance broken down by unit type. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask one of the Cadets at either Camp Natural Bridge or Anthony Wayne Parking Area. Safe travels, we look forward to seeing everyone at the Camporee!

Friends of Scouting: Applications for the 2022 West Point Scoutmasters' Council Camporee were sent out via email on March 4th. We apologize for the delay as we had to wait for a final public health review before officially going forward with the invitations. To the troops that have been accepted to attend, we look forward to hosting you. You should have received an email from [email protected]. To those who were not selected, the application pool follow...ing a 2-year hiatus was exceptionally large and while we wish everyone interested could attend, we are ultimately constrained by space and resources. Thank you for your interest and please apply for the lottery next year if you are available. We intend to give preference next year to those troops who we weren’t able to accommodate this year. If you applied and did not receive either an acceptance or rejection, please reach out to us at [email protected]

Friends of Scouting, We are sad to report that we cannot host our camporee this year. While we wish we could make it happen, the health and safety of both the West Point and the Scouting communities must be our first priority. Our fingers are crossed in hopes that we can return from our two-year hiatus in 2022 and make some more fun memories for all involved. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to the day when we can all be together again out at Lake Fredrick! ...In the meantime, the new remote environment provides an opportunity for us to engage with Scouts in new ways. Members of the Scoutmaster’s Council are currently undergoing the process of becoming certified merit badge counselors in hopes that we can establish a ‘Merit Badge College’ where we can work with scouts virtually to help them earn merit badges. This program is still in the initial planning phase so much of the ‘how’ and ‘why’ has yet to be figured out. More information will follow on this (including available merit badges, how to sign up, etc.) as we figure out how we want to run this program, so stay tuned for updates! See more

Friends of Scouting, As of now, there has been no official decision regarding the 2021 Camporee. Despite the impact COVID-19 has on the operating environment, West Point is continuing to drive on in its mission to develop the Army’s future leaders of character. When the decision is made, the USMA leadership will hold paramount the health and well-being of the Corps of Cadets, the West Point community, and the visiting scouts. Us cadets in Scoutmaster’s Council hope that we can host a safe and fun weekend for the scouts this spring. As soon as we know what the final decision is, we will let everyone know!

Meet the Staff! Commander Kevin Guardino, Company G-2, is running the show this year. He is a Firstie from Clifton Park, New York and a member of the USMA Strength team. His vision for this year is to lead Scoutmasters Council as they provide service to West Point, help other cadets, and foster a positive club culture. This year, he faces an unprecedented challenge with COVID-19 changing nearly every aspect of life at West Point. While the future is uncertain, Kevin is more t...han up for the challenge! Kevin’s favorite memory of the Camporee in 5 words: Lots of Mud and Rain Whacky Facts about Kevin: - He is Colorblind - He wrestled in college before coming to West Point

Friends of Scouting, We have run into more issues with the refunding process and are working through the issues as quickly as possible. Once the refunding process begins on Active's end, the process will begin to move quickly. In the interim, we have begun to refund each account by hand. Each refund takes about 5-10 minutes and there are over 500 refunds to process. We are moving through the applications in alphabetical order by last names. We have sorted through all of the 'A' last names today, with hopes to begin on the 'B' last names. We are working as fast as we can to do this process by hand and have hopes that the Active run refund process will begin shortly. Thank you for your continued patience and we hope that you, your families, and your troops are staying healthy during these trying times.

Friends of Scouting, We are still working diligently on the refunding process and we apologize for the delay. We have submitted the final purchase request today and each troop should begin to see refunds in the next week or two. To give some insight on the process, we had to transfer the money we received back to Active through a series of purchase requests. That money was transferred via snail mail. Once the money was transferred, another purchase request was required to cov...er the expense for Active to do the mass refund. That money was also delivered through snail mail. And at that point, the actual refunding can begin. But even that process will take time. To slow things down further, Active has had a limited number of staff due to COVID-19 and the mail system is backed up as you all have likely experienced. We again apologize for the gross delay in this process; however, we assure you that you will receive your refund as well as an invitation to the 2021 USMA SMC Camporee. Thank you for your continued patience and we hope that you and your families are staying safe and healthy during this trying time. See more

All, We hope you are still healthy and staying safe. As for the refunds, we wanted to offer everyone a quick update. We are working with ACTIVE and West Point to refund everyone's account. This process is slowed down significantly due to the impacts of the virus, but we will get the refunds back to you as soon as possible. We appreciate everyone's patience during this time. - The SMC Command Team

Dear Friends and Family of Scouting, It is with great sadness to inform all of you that the 2020 Scoutmaster’s Council Camporee has been cancelled due to health concerns of COVID-19. Our staff had been working hard to make this the best Camporee yet and we were excited for all of you to be able to experience it. We will be sending out further guidance on the refund process and other matters in the coming weeks via email. For those who were accepted this year, we would also l...ike to extend an invitation to attend the 2021 Camporee since we know many of you were looking forward to this event. Please bear with us as we navigate through these issues during this uncertain time. We hope that you all are staying safe and healthy and we will get through this together. Thank you for your patience and we hope to see you next year! - The SMC Command Team See more

Friends of Scouting, Firstly, we hope that each of you are staying safe and healthy, that is currently our top priority. In response to COVID-19, the United States Military Academy (USMA) has advised that cadets do not return to campus until March 29. This is to ensure the well being of all members of the West Point community. We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely and we will act in accordance with the guidance given by USMA. As of today, March 16, we do not know the status of the Camporee, but we will update you as soon as any information is available. We will be sending out updates via email and this Facebook page weekly in order to keep you all well informed. Thank you for your patience in the matter and we apologize for any inconveniences. - The SMC Command Team

Scoutmasters, all invites to the 2020 Camporee will be announced to you on February 1st.

The Camporee sign up link has been fixed.

Attention Everyone! Signups for the 2020 Camporee are now open on our website! https://sites.google.com/view/usmascoutmasterscouncil

Friends of Scouting, If you are interested, the West Point Orienteering Team will be hosting a Orienteering Skills Weekend for Scouts on 1-3 November. OSW is a chance for Scouts to engage with cadets, learn about the sport of orienteering, and complete requirements 1-7 for the orienteering merit badge. The event is planned, staffed, and executed by the cadets of the USMA Orienteering Club. Throughout the weekend, attendees will have the opportunity to run three courses in the... training areas around Lake Frederick and will receive instruction from a cadet assigned to their troop. Scouts will participate in various exercises and practical applications, culminating in a troop-level orienteering competition. More details and registration can be found at https://sites.google.com/view/west-point-orienteering/osw. The Cadet-in-Charge for this event is CDT James O'Brien at james.o'[email protected].

Scoutmasters and Friends, The school year is back in session and we have information on Scout Days and the Camporee for you. Here is the link to sign up for the Scout Days on October 5th and November 9th: https://www.armygameday.com/scoutday You can also use the number: (845) 446-2375 and ask to contact a group sales representative.... As for the Camporee, The Camporee will be taking place from April 24-26 and the application will be posted on this page later in the fall, but more to follow on that. We apologize for not responding to messages as we have been out doing summer commitments, but we hope this answers any questions you may have.

The West Point Camporee is just 1 month away! Who is excited?