Eucom Council Patch History |
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Welcome to a little piece of the History of Scouting in Europe. Why the Blake Keasey Page? Because, he was there.
Due to the transient nature of scouting in Europe, people who are here don't stay very long, usually three years.
Mr. Keasey was there before and during EUCOM as a scout. He was a Cub Scout in 1949 in Pack 65 in Darmstadt and
later in Troop 65. Before he left he was also a member of Troop 1 in Heidelberg. As a Boy Scout he attended the
Scout Camp in 1952 & 1953 located in Fussen, Germany. For those familiar with Germany, the Army has a recreation
center located in Garmisch, Germany. The Zugspitz overlooks the town. Nearby is the fairytale castle of Neuschaunstein,
Mad King Ludwigs finest castle. To get there from Garmisch, you drive down in to Austria and then back north into Germany
to the town of Fussen. Long way to relate to Fussen. However, this is very beautiful country in the German Alps. Mr.
Keasey states that there was a scout camp in 1954 and a Camporee after he left. As American families came to Europe in the earlier stages of occupation, the Boy Scout program came with them. But until 1950 it was a hit-and-miss proposition. In that year, General Thomas T. Handy, then EUCOM commander, backed the program with an order giving logistics support to the program. Contacts were made with the National Council, Boy Scouts of America with the objective of establishing a local council with headquarters in Germany. With this approval the Scouting program became of age in Western Europe. In Novermber 1950, the EUCOM Scouting Advisery Council was formed to give logistical support to both Boy and Girl Scouting. This organization, now known as the European Scouting Fund Council and representatives of both the Army and Air Force with the Transatlantic Council BSA and the North Atlantic Girl Scouts in its membership is continued logistical support for American Scouting in Europe. The Council, now called the Transatlantic Council, was organized in 1953 in the same manner as any stateside Boy Scout Council.(source "Transatlantic Trail", April 13, 1956) What is a EUCOM? EUCOM stands for European Command and is presently located in Stuttgart, Germany. Before there was the Transatlantic Council, (located in Mannheim, Germany), there was the EUCOM Council. EUCOM Council gave birth to Black Eagle Lodge way back in 1952. As such, it is the earliest record of our council and lodge. Evidently there was an unofficial "Direct Service Lodge" formed in the 1940's, under BSA Wartime Criteria. The official BSA term for such a Council and Lodge was "Extra Regional". In 1948, Military High Commissioners invited Scouting to set up a program in Europe (and Asia) under the Displaced Persons Program of BSA. In 1951, when that program was expanded to include US military and civilian personnel and their dependents in the area, it became known as the EUCOM (the US Army's European Command) BSA (or Scouting) Advisory Council. It was assigned Council #802 (The Current Council Number), a number that had previously been held by the Peking, China Council, and later the Co-Ordinating Committee of the BSA, Philippines. (History Provided by Dan Coberly) Last Updated:05/26/04 |
| EUCOM COUNCIL PATCHES |
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| Eucom Council (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
Eucom Council (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
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| Year: 1952 Type: Council Camp |
Year: 1952 Type: Council Camp |
| Eucom Council (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
Eucom Council (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
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| Year: 1953 Type: Council Camp |
Year: 1954 Type: Council Camp |
| Eucom Council (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
Eucom Council (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
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| Year: 1954 Type: Council Camp |
Year: 1954 Type: Council Camp |
| Eucom Council (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
Eucom Council (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
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| Year: 1953 Type: Council Camporee |
Year: 1953 Type: District Camporee |
| Eucom Council (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
Eucom Council (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
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| Year: 1954 Type: Council Camporee |
Year: 1954 Type: District Camporee |
| Eucom Council (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
Eucom Council (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
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| Year: N/A Type: Council |
Year: N/A Type: Council Executive |
| Prior to the charter of Black Eagle Lodge it has been reported that the early professionalScouters assigned to the Council wore a Direct Service flap: White twill background, Red number555, WWW, and arrow. This all changed when the Lodge was chartered on September 25, 1952 as theBald Eagle Lodge #482, evidently in deference to the American Bald Eagle. Lodge flaps were only beginning to come into being, so, as was common in those days, a round patch was selected for issue in 1952 (R1),and again in 1953 (R2). The patches are basically the same and difficult to tell a part by scan. There is a slight difference in the shade of the R1 & R2 with the R2 haveing two different twill directions. (History provided by Walt Queen and Ken Kittelberger) |
| Black Eagle Lodge 482 (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
Black Eagle Lodge 482 (Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available) |
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| Classification: R-1 Issue: First Lodge Patch Size: N/A Number Issued: N/A |
Classification: R-2 Issue: Lodge Round Size: N/A Number Issued: N/A |
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