Boy Scout Troop 343

I am extremely pleased to report that another Eagle has landed in the nest for Troop 343 - Curtis Fischer became #21 on Wednesday, May 9, after successfully completing his Eagle Board of Review! Curtis completed a very impressive Eagle project and all other requirements while showing great perseverance and commitment to achieve his goal in the required timeframe. Please join me in congratulating Curtis for this terrific accomplishment!

Rob Cook
Troop 343 Advancement Chair

Troop 343 will be running several emergency call down exercises this week to exercise it emergency notification procedures.   Currently the process is accomplished by using a telephone tree that is based on each patrol notifying each of its members.  The way it works is the SPL will notify all the Patrol Leaders who will then call the first person on their patrol roster.  That person in turn will notify the next person in line, who will then notify the next and so forth until the last person is called.  That last person will then call the patrol leader.  If a scout cannot be reached in a reasonable about of time 15-30 minutes, the scout will then call the person below the person on their list until they reach someone.  When they do, they will then tell that person who was skipped to keep the call down going.  The patrol leader will try to contact the members of their patrol that were skipped.  If the patrol leader cannot reach the scout or scouts, he will let the SPL know that his call down list was completed and who was not reached.  Once all the patrol leaders have called in, the SPL will let the Scout master know the status of the call down.  A call down list will be sent out with this message.  Part of this call down is to see how it well it will work for a troop notification and the time it takes to reach all its scouts.   The first call down will also check to see which scouts still need to finish their Emergency Preparedness MB.   The second call down will have a message for the scouts.  We will see who gets the message at Monday's meeting.   Part of the merit badge requirements is to review the call downs process.  This process of using a telephone tree is a traditional method of reaching a units' members, however, with today's communication systems there may be better and more effective means for a unit to contact everyone.  Those scouts working on the Emergency Preparedness MB are asked to think of better ways to contact the scouts in the troop and provide their recommendations at Monday's meeting.  Please do not share the contact information provided by the troop roster outside with people outside of the troop for it is provided for your use to conduct troop related activities only.   If you have any questions please call SM McPheeters at 256.503.2046 or text him at that number or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

From the Greater Alabama Council's Digital Eagle:

"The University of Evansville is offering UE Scouting Scholarships valued between $13,000-$16,500 a year.  Candidates must have earned the Boy Scouting Eagle Rank, Venturing Silver Award or Sea Scouting Quartermaster Award.  Candidates must visit the University of Evansville campus and have a high school GPA of at least 3.5 and score 1530 or higher on the SAT or 23 or higher on the ACT.  This scholarship is renewable for four years with a UE GPA of at least 2.5.  For more information visit www.evansville.edu or call 812-488-2829."

I am extremely pleased and proud to report that Troop 343 has hatched another two Eagle Scouts, as Mitchell Stevens and Chip Johnson both successfully completed their BORs on Wednesday, February 15th, the final step in earning the distinguished rank! Both young men displayed the character and spirit expected of an Eagle Scout, along with an impressive resume' of achievements in scouting. It is great to know they are prepared, for life. Please join me in congratulating Mitchell and Chip for this awesome accomplishment!

Rob Cook
Troop 343 Advancement Chair