SE I am not nocking the Explores. I am nocking the training this group is doing. Why are they training to defeat/kill an Iraqi Veteran...
Boy Scouts Train to Become Homeland Gestapo 1 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgSb8HvUbAk
Boy Scouts Train to Become Homeland Gestapo 2 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz9waHOgcdM
I'm not sure if the Explorer Posts could team up with the military, but I wouldn't see why not. I'd have to look that up later if I remember.
Generally this is what schools JROTC Programs are for.
The training scenario quoted in the article.
Ten minutes into arrant mayhem in this town near the Mexican border, and the gunman, a disgruntled Iraq war veteran, has already taken out two people, one slumped in his desk, the other covered in blood on the floor.
“United States Border Patrol! Put your hands up!” screams one in a voice cracking with adolescent determination as the suspect is subdued.
Why would someone training in a "Border Patrol" role have a scenario to capture/suppress a "disgruntled Iraqi War Veteran"... Why would they not train against drug runners, Mexican Mafia, or Coyotes...
Why would someone training in a "Border Patrol" role have a scenario to capture/suppress a "disgruntled Iraqi War Veteran"... Why would they not train against drug runners, Mexican Mafia, or Coyotes...
The Boy Scouts originated as a military auxiliary--training young men in skills that could be needed in war.
It's no coincidence that the Hitler Youth and Young Pioneers have a lot of points of similarity with the Scouts, but that is because both of them borrowed heavily from Baden Powell's organization in their own founding (although it wouldn't surprise me if the Russians claimed "it was invented here first" ). That is no fault of the Scouts nor any reason in and of itself to be wary of the Scouts.
As for the particular "program" described in the article, I have to wonder whether that is nothing more than the biases of the particular leadership at that particular organization. Blaming the Scouts for that is, well, like blaming gun owners every time someone commits a crime using a gun, or blaming the military as an organization every time some military member commits s crime (in an organization that large you're going to have some "bad apples" anyway).
Perspective please.
While I agree with most of your post, I do disagree on a couple things.
First, the Scouts have no connection to the Military or any form thereof. At least here in America that is. It was never meant as a training tool for youth to become part of the military. This is a common misconception and is taught to the Scouts after crossing over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.
Second, the Explorer Scout Posts, while still connected with the BSA, is a seperate entity and is centered around training youth for their paticular profession they have chosen to follow. Training for the Border Patrol, as I have found out, involves the training as described in the article, but is not the main focus of the group. The media has just focused on this one issue and is taking it out of context.
It's called fear mongering.
So on this I agree with you, but the first part is a serious misconception and has nothing to do with the Military. In Britian, yes, here, no.
Look at what the "core values" of the POTUS and our military are, it doesn't appear that their worried about their duties.
I was not aware that the POTUS had any specified "core values." Perhaps you could point me to that.
As for the military, you might want to be more specific. While there are certainly "bad eggs" in the military (show me a group of close to two million people--active and reserve--anywhere that doesn't have some "bad eggs"), my own experience is that the military does a pretty good job of holding to it's "core values" (said to me by my TI on the day I reported for Basic: "I don't care what you think you joined the Air Force for, from this moment on, you are here for three reasons--Duty, Honor, Country.")