Every year Scout Troop 175 takes its boy leaders and challenges them with an 18 hour exercise that tests their skills and ability to think strategically. Known as a “Mission Profile”, scouts are broken into teams of four and given a scenario which includes a series of challenges that earn currency needed to win the game. This year’s profile was named "Breaking Dawn" and the goal was to find out who held a yellow golf ball.
Many of the teams were led by members of the Troop Immortals, a group of high adventure advanced scouts. This activity was a tryout for those who would like to become members of the Immortals team.
32 scouts, representing the leadership of the troop, gathered on a Friday night at the Horace Moses Scout Reservation in Russell Mass. At 7 Pm they were split into predetermined 8 teams of 4 Scouts each and handed their Mission Profile Books which described their tasks for the next day.
The first activity, or “revolution” began at 7 am the next morning when they set off in the dark on a five mile orienteering course using compasses and maps. At the same time, teams had to decide how and where to build a log bridge over the narrow river running through the camp and build a large tower that could hold two scouts on a rope suspended inside the tower for 30 seconds at least 4 feet off the ground.
Each project was a race and winners were awarded "Money", Hershey bars, eggs and clues to the identity of the adult who held the yellow golf ball needed to win the game.
During the day, other challenges had the Scouts immerse a volunteer member in the 40 degree river fully for ten seconds after building a damn and digging an immersion pool, rescue a scout in the woods at night and bring him back in stretcher, use a treasure map to find their food for the day and then improvise all their cooking equipment from the woods around them. During the day they also had to set up secret camps in the 1600 acre reservation and try and find the other team camps.
The activity was non-stop from 7am until 9pm with teams accumulating items they would need to learn the identity of the holder of the yellow golf ball. Many of the clues and instructions were won by doing well in the various competitions but these clues were coded into a cipher that the scouts had to break using their math and logic skills.
All information and items were able to be traded among the teams so their negotiation skills became very important in accumulating the right set of equipment or getting information necessary to win the game.
At 9pm, the last activity or “Final Battle” took place in the dark. An epic game of capture the flag challenged scouts to find the secret campsites of the other teams and run off with a color coded glow stick that served as a flag. At the same time, scouts each had a color coded piece of tape on their arm that, if removed by another team’s player, required them to report to the adult’s campfire and earn the right to rejoin the game by singing a song, telling a joke or cutting some firewood. The team that brought in another team’s flag and 10 “scalps” or tape taken from another team’s player, earned the final final information needed to break the code.
At 11 :15 PM the Blue Team led by Immortal Chief Keegan Rice with Hunter Boyko, Justin Farrell and Matt Zikovich entered the Base Camp area and presented their solution to the judges and won the game. Right behind them placing second was the Yellow Team led by Immortal Eric Barch and his team of John Cahill, Ethan Meskill and Tristan Chambers. Within five minutes, the Red team came in third led by Immortal Jon Epstein with Zack Zikovich, Jason Child and Andrew Gutierrez.
"These types of complex games test the boys not only on their Scouting knowledge but also on their ability to bring their teams through a series of successes and setbacks and keep driving towards the goal" said Scoutmaster Brad Mead. "By 2pm they have had a long exhausting day and there is still another nine hours to go. Half the Mission takes place in the dark. The scouts have to improvise everything on the spot and under the relentless pressure of time and not letting the other teams beat them. Overlaying all of it is the ability to form alliances with other teams, buy and sell information or disinformation, tools,food and develop a strategy that gets their team to the goal before the other guys. It’s a "thinking man’s" game and a thousand different ways to win- or lose."
The adults cooked up a midnight buffet for the very hungry and tired teams and the next morning over breakfast a complete recap of strategies, hits and misses , was discussed with the adult leaders before heading home.
To see photos taken at the event, please visit our Troop Online Photo Library.
Click here to download the BREAKING DAWN Mission Profile
