We're thrilled to welcome our four newest members: Camden, Christian, David, and Ramzy who crossed over from Pack 14 on April 6th.   

We are incredibly excited to have these young men join us on our scouting adventures.  We've had a great year so far, and it's getting better every day!

Prepared.  For Life.

In February and March 2013, Troop 14 has backpacked over 30 miles.  Through some of the most beautiful scenery that Alabama has to offer.

 In February, we backpacked the Sipsey Wilderness in the Bankhead National Forest in North Central Alabama.  We hiked three miles to the camp site entirely at night.  On Saturday, we hiked deeper into the forest to see the largest tulip poplar tree in the state of Alabama.  It's estimated to be over 500 years old.  That night, the temperature dropped to 18 degrees Fahrenheit, so everyone on the trip earned the Polar Bear Patch.

Then in March, we hiked the Walls of Jericho on the Tennessee / Alabama state line, northeast of Huntsville.  We covered another 15 miles in three days, including 1000 foot climb out over a distance of less than three miles.  We camped next to a 19th Century cemetery, and had lunch next to a beautiful waterfall.

We will be giving the bacpkacking gear a rest in April as we participate in the council's Spring Camporee and receive a great new class of Scouts during the Webelos crossover ceremony.

We've started a new YouTube channel for Troop 14.  We started by posting a 2012 year in review slideshow, but we'll have more in the near future.

The Wilderness Survival merit badge teaches scouts about the five main ground to air signals.  This weekend, Troop 14 put them to the test with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP).   The troop  was invited to participate in a recent CAP search and rescue exercise by simulating a lost troop of scouts who were lost on a hike.

The scouts set out a  personal locator beacon which allowed the aircraft to electronically determine their location.  As the aircraft approached, the aircrew found a large arrow that had been constructed of mylar "space blankets" that pointed the direction the scouts had hiked.  The aircrew radioed the mission command center with their location and dispatched a CAP ground search team.  They then proceeded in the direction of the arrow and found the second signal a quarter mile away in a clearing in the woods.  This time, it was a mylar "X", which indicated that the scouts needed medical attention.

The aircrew then established radio communications with the ground team, and guided them to the location of the scouts.  The ground team then performed a hasty search and found four scouts on a trail in the woods.

The troop would like to extend thanks to the Golden Triangle Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol for allowing us to participate in this event.

Photos from that weekend, including photos taken from the aircraft man be viewed here:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjDMpp2Y

Congratulations to Josh Coggins, who was elected as the new Senior Patrol Leader for Troop 14.  Josh replaces Clifton Taylor, who has lead the troop for the last year.  Many thanks to the great work that Clifton has done in the last year, and good Luck to Josh on an exciting upcoming year.

We've got an exciting  schedule planned for 2013.  We'll have it posted in the calendar in the next couple of days.  Stay Tuned!

The Pushmataha Area Council Fall Camporee was held November 9th through 11th at East Mississippi Community College.  Troop 14 had twenty-three scouts in attendance and also hosted the Webelos II scouts from Pack 14.

Each scout could work on two merit badges.  Our scouts participated in 16 of the 18 available merit badges (art, automotive maintenance, citizenship in the community, computers, drafting, electricity, electronics, engineering, first aid, law, photography, pottery, radio, salesmanship, welding, and woodwork).

Troop 14 continued its tradition of excellence by winning first place in the campsite inspection competition and tying for first place in uniform inspection.  These were the only two judged categories.

On September 15, we held our Fall Court of Honor at Robinson Lake.  The highlight of the night was the awarding of the Eagle Scout rank to Josh Coggins.  Josh was the seventh young man in Troop 14 to earn that rank this year.

Others who advanced their rank included Marshall Adair (Bronze Palm), Bradley Curtis (Star), Jonathan Franz (1st Class), Benjamin Griffith (Life), Ethan Holder (Star), Austin Kibler (Bronze Palm),  Daniel Liffrig (Bronze Palm), Cameron Maddox (Life), Jason Roberson (Tenderfoot), Warren Smith (Star), Clifton Taylor (Bronze Palm), Clay Turner (Star).

In addition to rank advancements,  24 boys were awarded a total of 96 merit badges  in 39 different categories.

Finally, Assistant Scoutmaster Roger Smith was awarded his beads for the completion of Wood Badge training.  He was the third member of his Wood Badge class of over 30 students to complete the training.

We have created a new page on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Starkville-Troop-14/403923546329963 


Our Facebook and Twitter accounts are synchronized, so follow us on either one to keep up with our latest news.

Last night, Dr. Clifton D. Taylor took over the reigns as Scoutmaster for Troop 14.  Dr. Taylor has been an Assistant Scoutmaster for the troop for more than four years.  He replaces Russ Hayes, who has been Scoutmaster for the past two years, and who intends to continue as an Assistant Scoutmaster.

Both men have sons who are currently Eagle Scouts in the troop.  

Keeping up with Troop 14's news and activities is now even easier.  Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Troop_14 to be notified of website updates, reminders, or anything else we can think of to do with it.  We're open for suggestions!  There's even a link to our feed from our news page:

http://www.starkvilletroop14.org/news.html

(Of course you knew that already, since you're reading this!)