Boy Scouts learn survival skills in the wild

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Colleen Wronek
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy (USAFENS) --  Aviano Boy Scouts learned valuable life lessons last weekend during a scouting trip to the Dolomiti national park near Andreis.

Boy Scouts from 11- to 17-years-old earned their wilderness survival merit badge by learning self-preservation in the wild.

“We are teaching them how to be self-sufficient in life. Scouts are about learning leadership skills and being independent,” said scoutmaster Senior Master Sgt. Steve Laser.

Tech. Sgt. Rusty Hayes also went on the scouting trip. Using his experience as a 31st Operations Support Squadron Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape instructor, he taught the scouts survival techniques like building a fire from scratch and how to signal for help using anything shiny or reflective.

“We taught them the psychological will to survive, which means they learned how to stay motivated if they get lost in the woods. We taught them how to find, purify and store water, the signs of hypothermia and frost bite, how to build natural and poncho shelters, and how to find food and make snares,” Sergeant Hayes said. “A lot of what we are teaching them is preparation. The more prepared they are, the higher the chance they will have to survive.”

On Saturday, the boys built shelters. “It was raining Sunday and the boys slept in the shelters without getting wet,” said Tech. Sgt. Charles Fetterolf, Boy Scout committee chairperson.

Before the hands-on portion, the Boy Scouts were taught in a classroom setting on the proper way of applying the survival techniques. Then they went outdoors and gathered needed materials. While learning how to build a fire, the scouts learned how to gather dry wood from a dead tree, as well as how to dry out wet grasses and bark.

“Learning how to make fire was a lot of fun,” said Eric Milliner, 12. “Getting the fire to start was easy, but it took a while to keep it going.”

Instead of spending the weekend in front of the television, the boys not only enjoyed the outdoors, but learned how to lead each other.

“The outdoors is the best classroom there is,” Sergeant Laser said. “It gets the kids outside and, while they are having fun, they are learning something deeper.”