"Learning about our past; preparing for our future..."

Troop 46 "Freedom Outpost" has a long and storied history. From the rise and fall of the Berlin wall to the reunification of Germany, we have been through it all! 

As a community organization, our history is the history of our community.  Therefore, we are working on piecing together as much of our history as we can in order to learn about our past and to have a basis from which to write our future!

Our homepage shows some of the results of our research into our history.  If you have any information about Troop 46 in Berlin (personal memories, documents, etc..) please feel free to contact our Scoutmaster and pass on your knowledge! 

Who knows, it might even make it onto our website!

Scout on!

Troop 46 "Freedom Outpost"                         
True to scouting values for over 55 years. 

Troop 46 and the Transatlantic Council

Troop 46 "Freedom Outpost" is one of the oldest existing Troop in the Transatlantic Council.

The Transatlantic Council #802 of the Boy Scouts of America, originally created in May 1950 as EUCOM, BSA Advisory Board and later EUCOM Advisory Council, serves to make the Scouting program available to United States citizens and their dependents living in west-and-central Europe, the Near East, and North Africa.

Thanks to the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections, we have been able to date the existance of Troop 46 to as early as 1952.

From the US Army Information Bulletin, May 1952

Pictured in the photo: "Boy Scouts, representing American, British and German troops in Berlin, partici-

pated in a three-day Camporee on the shore of Lake Wannsee in April. Watching

a songfest session (background left to right): Lt. Col. J. T. Shepard, scoutmaster

of Berlin Troop No. 46; Brig. Gen. Maurice W. Daniel, commanding general

of Berlin Military Post, and Albert Wehr, educational director acting as coordinator

for the German Youth Activities in Berlin."                    

Troop 46 was also featured in the Berlin Military Newspaper, the Berlin Observer around 1957.  The original article can be found at the following link: www.theberlinobserver.com/scouts.html

Scouting Behind the Iron Curtain With freedom' Outpost's Troop 46 No American community is complete without Boy Scouts. Troop 46, named Freedom Outpost, fulfills this need in the Berlin American Community, providing boys with the healthy outdoor activities, guidance and the goals that have become such. an important part of American life. Carrying out this mission as the only American scout troop behind the Iron Curtain, the local group here has overcome everything from lack of interest and supplies to the problems of finding a place to hold its activities. A year ago the troop numbered 20 boys, with only eight or nine attending meetings. Today, largely because of its enlarged program of interesting activities, the troop has 65 young men on its rolls with almost all of them regularly attending meetings. A good portion of this growth can be attributed to James Tice, the Scoutmaster for the past year. When Tice took over the troop in August of 1957, he was too young under Scout rules to be anything but an assistant scoutmaster. He held that title until his 21& birthday, February 10, 1957. On his birthday, Tice received a special certificate “promoting” him to Scoutmaster. Thus, for a short time, he was the youngest Scoutmaster in the world. A native of Oklahoma City, Tice was active there as an assistant scoutmaster and held the prized Eagle rank. He calls scouting the finest way of Life for a young man. “It gives him exercise, skills, group activities, friendship and a moral way of life. A few statistics prove my point,” he .adds. “First, more than 26 million boys and men are or have been affiliated with the Scouts in America. Currently there are almost five million men and boys engaged in Scouting, and the number increases all the time.” Tice is aided in handling the troop by assistant Scoutmaster Aaron D. Blankenship, Louis Ball and Charles I. White. Like most troops, Freedom Outpost is sponsored by a group of older, more experienced men, interested in seeing that America’s youth has the guidance needed to grow into good citizens. Sponsoring the local group is the Berlin Rod and Gun Club. A Boy Scout committee of interested ex-Scouts and parents, headed by David C. Bergeron, acts as advisors to the scoutmaster and to the boys. These advisors pass on advancement of the boys, aid in merit badge counseling, and help the boys plan their outings. Pursuing their goals under this careful guidance, the troop follows an active year-round program. Last Christmas collected a truck load of toys for distribution Berlin children by the German Red Cross. Local papers commented favorably on this generous act by the Americans, adding greatly to the prestige of Freedom Outpost. As a Christmas project this year, the boys are selling cards showing typical German scenes to earn money for and equipment and future events. In December last year the troop sent delegates to Wildflecken, near Fulda, for a snow camporee and competition in scouting skills hosted by the 14th Armored Calvary Regiment and Headquarters V Corps. The Berliners were selected as the best delegation at the camporee for their superb showing of scouting skill, exemplified by their adaption to the adverse winter weather conditions. An all-expense-paid trip to London on George Washington’s birthday was awarded to Scoutmaster Tice for the fine showing of the troop. Carrying on in the “Be Prepared” tradition, five members of the troop, Wayne Duke, Robert mite, Toby West, Howaud Schlereth ‘and Richard Sobieski aided a German injured in an auto accident near Turner Barracks. The boys gave the injured driver first aid and directed traffic around the accident scene until relieved by Berlin Police. In February the boys joined scouts around the world to celebrate their 48th birthday. A special family night at the Scout Center in Crump Hallwas held to mark the date. Erving H.Dennis, Deputy Scout Executive of the Transatlantic Council in Heidelberg, presented a series of discussions on youth leadership and scouting that was attended by many of the Scouts’ parents. Continuing their active program, the troop traveled to Bremerhaven in the spring for a three day camporee with the Port City’s Troop 17 and an exchange of camping skills and Scouting activities. An active summer program followed with camping trips in Berlin. Outings in the city have proved a problem to the local boys, as German law is very strict on fires and tenting in the forests. The boys have overcome this problem by going to the British Air Field at Gatow for their overnights. ‘Scout-0- Rama with the local British troop, complete with skill demonstrations, skits and a campfire ceremony. Right after the get-together with the British, a father and son hike was held with the boys * leading their dads through the Grunewald to a meeting for lunch with a German Scout troop. Merit badges f o r hiking are also getting special attention as group hikes are being organized to meet award requirements. In addition to this, a patrol contest is in progress with a trip to a foreign country during Christmas vacation as a prize. The patrols are judged On personal neatness, attendance at meetings, advancement and bringing in new members. Something new started this fall as the troop opened an odd-job service for anyone needing a trustworthy part-time worker. The boys will take on anything from baby-sitting to snow shovelling, Money earned in this way is used to purchase needed scout equipment. A most important part of the troop’s activity centers around sharing activities with local German Scout troops. Berlin scouts often visit the American troop and bring samples of their own work with them. The two groups hike together, work map problems and follow each other’s trails through the forest to secret meeting places for cook-outs and campfires. According to Tice, the continued success of the program depends on. holding the boys interest and parent support. The scouts can always use more merit badge or parents willing to devote a few hours to help prepare them for manhood.

Scouting Behind the Iron Curtain With 'Freedom Outpost's Troop 46

No American community is complete without Boy Scouts. Troop 46, named Freedom Outpost, fulfills this need in the Berlin American Community, providing boys with the healthy outdoor activities, guidance and the goals that have become such. an important part of American life. -The Berlin Observer, 1957

Troop 46 "Freedom Outpost" was the first Scouting Troop behind the Iron Curtain.  Also known as the Berlin Brigade Troop, Troop 46 was primarily composed of boys from US military families. It provided opportunities for "city boys" to explore the great outdoors with organized activities such as hiking, camping, in not only West Berlin, but in West Germany as well.

So what exactly was the Berlin Brigade? 

The Berlin Brigade was an U.S. Army unit; its shoulder sleeve insignia was the U.S. Army Europe patch with Berlin tab.

During the Berlin Wall Crisis of 1961, the army reorganized the command structure of the forces in Berlin and created the U.S. Army Berlin and created the Berlin Brigade from the units already in the city. At this time, the infantry units of the Brigade were organized according to the "pentomic" structure: One "battle group" consisted of five line (rifle) companies, a combat support company, and a Headquarters & Headquarters company. Berlin Brigade had the 2nd & 3rd battle groups of the 6th US Infantry Regiment assigned to it from 1960 through 1964, when structure reverted to battalions.

The brigade consisted of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Battalions of the 6th Infantry Regiment (reflagged to 4th, 5th and 6th Battalions of the 502d Infantry Regiment), Battery C 94th Field Artillery (replaced by Echo Battery 320th Field Artillery), Company F of the 40th Armor, 42nd Engineer Company, 42nd Military Police Company (Customs), 287th Military Police Company (Separate), 43rd and 76th Chemical Detachments, 279th Station Hospital (became US Army Hospital Berlin in 1976), 168th Medical Detachment (Veterinary Service), and 298th Army Band. The 168th and 298th share the distinction of being the longest serving units in Berlin. They both arrived to the city in a 37-vehicle convoy on July 3, 1945. The commanders of both units were old high school classmates.

Until the end of the Cold War members of the Brigade were eligible for the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp. Because of the legal status of West Berlin, it was technically "occupied" territory left over from World War II.

Under the treaties which enabled the reunification of Germany, all non-German military forces were required to leave Berlin. The Berlin Brigade was officially deactivated by President Bill Clinton on July 6, 1994.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Brigade

This TAC segment was a formerly a controlled segment.  You could only get one segment per trip and only from the TAC Berlin office, where it was registered by name.  It was presented with a certificate to Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and adults participating in a trip across the "Iron Curtain" via the "duty train" between Frankfurt and Berlin; for hiking the Berlin Historical Trail, and for writing an essay on "What Freedom Means to Me".

If you have ever seen the Boy Scout Ashes Ceremony, you know that ashes of previous campfires are mixed with the ashes of later campfires to help Scout cheerfulness and Scout Spirit continue from campfire to campfire.  What you may not know is that the origin of many ashes today can be traced back to THE original Scout campfire, held on Brownsea Island by Baden-Powell himself! 

Interestingly, the history of most ashes today includes Troop 46!  You see, in 1978, Troop 46, Berlin's own "Freedom Outpost," hosted a camporee at Rose Range here in Berlin.  At that campfire, they had an "ash ceremony" where the council ashes were mixed with the ashes at that camporee.  The next morning, those ashes were collected and passed on to the many scouters that were there. 

Since then, those Scouters have gone their seperate ways and mixed the ashes with campfires the world over.  Thus, there is a little of Troop 46 in every Scout Campfire around the world!

"In 1909, Wilber and Orville Wright demonstrated in Berlin their first motor-powered flying machine.  They flew from what was then Tempelhof Field.  This marker was erected by the Boy Scouts of Troop 46, Berlin."

                  - text from the Berlin Historic Trail Guidelines  from the Transatlantic Council

Perhaps my most interesting scout adventure in Berlin began with Teddy Roosevelt and ended with very tired feet!

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy apparently found out that President Teddy Roosevelt, a fitness buff in his own right, had challenged the Marines to hike 50 miles in under 20 hours to prove their fitness. Kennedy used this historical challenge to try to motive a fitness resurgence in the US. Soon, "Kennedy 50 Mile Hikes" were a craze across the county (and still are! see http://www.jfk50mile.org/ ). They became the equivalent of the Volksmarch and were publicized in all the leading news magazines and newspapers.

In the early 60's, in Berlin, most of our news was from Stars and Stripes newspaper or the Paris edition of TIME as well as mail deliveries of LIFE and other periodicals. I remember reading with interest about this latest American fad.

On Friday 15, 1963 the Berlin Brigade newspaper had an article about an Army officer and several of his sergeants who were going to do the first Kennedy 50 Mile Hike in Berlin. This particular officer had done some work with Troop 46 and so the story caught my eye as well as that of several other scouts. Then on Saturday, February 16, we went swimming with the British scouts at their indoor pool (it was February in Berlin after all). On the ride back someone - and I really have no idea who- came up with the idea that we should do the Kennedy 50 Mile Hike.

We quickly agreed that there was no time to waste since we wanted to try to best the time of the soldiers. Accordingly, we decided to do it beginning early the next morning. I don't remember who all agreed to go on Saturday night but at 4 a.m. on Sunday, February 17, 1963 only four scouts showed up at the agreed upon start point in front of Berlin Brigade HQ on Clayalle. They were Ron Bolin, Tom Post, Dave Prieto and I. see the first photo.

We quickly plotted out our course and began hiking north towards the upper most point of West Berlin. Our goal- to hike the entire length of the Berlin Wall!

As you can see from the attached pictures, it was snowy but not particularly cold that day. It never got sunny but the exercise kept us warm. After we reached the furthest northern point of the Wall we began to trace it's path south. Along the route, we hit many of the famous sites of Berlin since to make the hike a true 50 miles we had to take a number of side trips. Thus, one of the photos I have provided shows us at the Berlin Airlift Memorial at Templehof.

We carefully plotted our route on city maps and to prove we had been at specific points we had people we meet along the way sign and date 3x5 cards. I still have several in my scrapbook and have put one of them on the accompanying pictures. Two of the ones I still have are by Berlin police officers, one is by an English soldier providing security for the Soviet soldiers at the Russian War Memorial and one is on the letterhead of the Congresshalle. I do not know if any of the other hikers still have any of their share of the cards that we collected.

Somehow I?d forgotten to tell my parents of what we planned so when they got up on Sunday morning - several hours after we'd rendezvoused and left on our hike - they found a note from me and the remains of packages of crackers that'd I taken for "trail" rations. What the other guys told their parents I never knew.

We continued to hike throughout the day; taking some short rest breaks and buying some wurst and brotchen to supplement the crackers and other snacks we?d brought with us. Again-and-again we carefully measured how far we'd come and, possibly more important, how far we still had to go! All this while I, at least, was dreaming of the heroes welcome we get when we arrived back at Berlin HQ having shown how fit America's youth truly were.

Shortly after dark we arrived at the US Army train station having done over 40 miles by that time (remember in February it gets dark early in Berlin). We called our parents and they soon arrived with food, dry socks and a few comments about how nice it might have been if we'd told them what we were going to do before we tried to do it.

Despite offers to drive us home we were determined to finish the 50 miles and started out again to cover the last 10. By this time we'd been hiking about 12 hours, it was dark and perhaps more problematic,  we were running out of places to hike! So for the last 10 miles we cut back-and-forth across the American sector of Berlin, too tired to be bored.

Finally, about 8 p.m. we saw the gates of the US Headquarters on Clayalle, our starting point. In a little over 14 hours, we'd hiked 50 miles including most of the Berlin Wall, or at least those parts that were accessible. When we arrived at the gate, expecting perhaps the Commanding General to welcome us there was no one except the gate guard. No band, no ceremony and not even our families.

From that point, I had to hike about one-half mile home. So with the hike to-and-from the starting point I actually hiked 51 miles.

If you remember early in my tale I'd mentioned the soldiers that were going to do the first Kennedy 50 Mile Hike. My father later told me that one reason we never gained any recognition was that the soldiers had never completed the hike! In good will, the Berliners had showered them with food, beer and schnapps and they became to "full" to finish. We'd apparently not only bested their effort but also managed to be a bit of an embarrassment in the process.

The next day we were back in school; my only reward was being excused from PE because my legs and feet were sore. Fifty Mile Hikes are a standard part of today's Scouting program but I suspect we took one of the more unusual ones and didn't even get a patch to show for it.

- Jim Polley, Troop 46 Álumni

My recollections were a bit different.  The military hikers that preceded our trek were an Air Force group.  They dropped out after about 20-30 miles.  Being young, we knew we could do better and complete 50 miles.  The scout master wanted us to walk around the track to measure the distance but we(the scouts) wanted a bit more excitement for the hike.  We mapped out the route and measured the distance before we started.  Started north to the french sector and then south along the wall.  Got dry socks and fresh shoes at Tempelhof.  and arrived that evening at Berlin Brigade.  Remember soaking our feet in the bath tub at my place.

- Tom Post, Troop 46 Alumni