history

Our origins.Troop 324 was formed at Camp de Lodges in Paris, France in the fall of 1964, although, the original charter was not signed until January 1965.  At the time the troop was chartered by the Headquarters, U.S. European Command Chaplain’s Office at Camp de Lodges.  In 1967 the Troop 324 along with Troop 212 moved from Paris to Stuttgart, Germany along with the U.S. Command following the ouster of all U.S. forces from France.  Troop 324 is the only remaining troop from the original command move and has been continuously active since it was formed.  The troop has spent nearly all of its fifty years of service on Patch Barracks supporting the youth of Headquarters, U.S. European Command.

Below are some of our old troop t-shirts and when you scroll down you can discover a list of the scoutmasters going back to the year 1965, as well as a few other interesting items from our troop.

 

Looking through old files and annual registration paperwork at the TransAtlanticCouncil office, the troop´s historian managed to put together this list of our former Scoutmasters:

1965: Russell C. Feurst
1966-1969: C. Paul Martin
1971-1972: G. Queen
1972-1973: John G. Kloke
1973-1974: Joseph C. Martin jr.
1974-1977: Peter D. Mc’Mullen
1977-1978: Roy A. Tew
1978-1980: Charles A Schaefer
1980-1981: James A. Arnstaid
1981-1982: Roy L. York
1982-1984: Norman W. Birzer
1984-1986: Thomas M. Patten
1986-1987: Thomas H. Reed
1987-1989: John E. Mirus
1989-1991: Gregory Hallstrom
1991-1992: Ralph Crawford
1992-1994: Rodney D. Low
1994-1997: Michael R. Sullivan
1997-1998: John Eggleston
1998-2002: Walter A. Ruiz
2002-2003: Chris Elwin Phillips
2003-2004: Steve K. Gregorcyk
2004-2005: Chet Husk
2005-2006: Robert Allen Mallets
2006-2015: John L. Cass (with Annie Cass while John was deployed)
2015-2020: Steff Ockey
2020-present: Mike Healy

The troop also maintains many other items which are part of our  “historical” troop lore…

The “Troop 324” sign.  The troop sign, clearly designed as gateway, is at least 29 years old and accompanies the troop on nearly every outing.  The board is simple in nature, but expresses the rugged feel of our troop.

The Eagle Scout Badge Board.  The large piece of plywood decorated with an Eagle Scout Badge sits in the corner of our scout hut.  The board is clearly seen as the background during a 1967 Eagle Scout ceremony in our troop.  Our best estimation is this is the same board we display in our hut today.

The “Eagles Nest”  sign.  The Eagle’s Nest sign actually dates to the late 1980’s and mid-1990s when the troop maintained a patrol specifically for Eagle Scouts.  The best lore tells of at least eight scouts serving in this patrol at one time.

We need more cowbell!  The troop quartermaster maintains a rusted and dirty cowbell which was purchased at Camp Alpine from the Kandersteg International Scout Center in 2006. The Scoutmaster Rob “Rubber” Mallets purchased the cowbell as a means to assist the Senior Patrol Leader in waking up the scouts.  Since this time the bell has served on and off as a troop alarm clock.

Troop Ashes.  The troop historian maintains our troop ashes which are added to significant campfires from our troop throughout the year.  The historian also maintains a spread sheet which indicates the mixing of ashes with other troops.  Through this practice our troop ashes origins date to 1934.  Significantly, our ashes have flown a U2 mission,  attended the 100th Anniversary Campfire at the BSA National Jamboree, and were mingled with wood from the 1907 Brownsea Island original scout campsite and Gilwell Park in England.