Army Major brings Boy Scouts to Afghanistan

Army Major Creates Boy Scouts Troops for Children in Afghanistan
People Magazine
Cathy Free
July 31, 2014

Arriving in Afghanistan in 2010, U.S. Army Maj. Glenn Battschinger, homesick for his two Eagle Scout sons, knew right away how to make a difference.

"There were hundreds of children who swarmed myself and the other soldiers coming and going from the base," he tells PEOPLE. "The kids wanted attention and needed something to do."

Battschinger pictured them in uniforms, tying knots and carving wood, just like his sons, Gregory, 17, and Cedric, 15, did back home in Mays Landing, New Jersey.

One week later, after receiving the go-ahead from leaders of three villages surrounding the Finley-Shields Army Operating Base, Battschinger gathered 40 Afghan boys in an orange orchard outside the base for Qasabah Troop No. 1's first Boy Scout meeting.

After the kids were taught the Boy Scout pledge, Battschinger and several volunteers gave them each a 3-foot strand of parachute cord for knot-tying that doubled as a neckerchief.

"The boys were quick learners," recalls Battschinger, 52, a civil affairs team commander who conducted the meetings every Saturday on his own time.
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