A HISTORY OF EUCOM
(The Blake Keasey Page)

AND
BLACK EAGLE LODGE
(Pat Hanlon)

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 Neuschwanstein, 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

November 1950, the EUCOM Scouting Advisory 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.

EUCOM Council history from the Blake Keasey page with history provided by Dan Coberly.

Pat Hanlon

Black Eagle Lodge of the Order of the Arrow was first chartered on September 25, 1952.
Initially, the lodge was named the Bald Eagle Lodge but because another lodge already had that
name it was changed to the Black Eagle Lodge #482.

Prior to the charter of Black Eagle Lodge, it has been reported that the early professional
Scouters assigned to the Council wore a Direct Service flap: White twill background, Red
number 555, WWW, and arrow. This all changed when the Lodge was chartered on September
25, 1952 as the Bald 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).
*James Hewitt reports that the R1 has a pale blue background with black and grey Eagle. The
R2 has a blue background with black and silvery white Eagle.

In the fall of 1952, lodge founder Mr. Walter Buote and other OA members in the Heidelberg
area conducted elections in troops as far away as Giessen, West Germany. That same fall, the
first lodge Ordeal, Fellowship, and Training Conference was held in the Tompkins Woods
Training Area near Mannheim. In the Spring of 1953, another combined Ordeal and Lodge
Fellowship and Training Conference was held in central West Germany. At this event the first
Lodge Chief, Hudson B. Phillips, Jr. was elected, and the lodge totem and name were selected.
The Black Eagle is the symbol of the former Federal Republic of Germany where the lodge was
founded.

The lodge inducted their first Vigils, Hudson B. Phillips, Jr. and John A. Phillips, on September
1, 1953. By the end of 1953, there were 75 members in Black Eagle Lodge; 61 were new Ordeal
members. In 1955, the lodge formed chapters to coincide with the districts of Transatlantic
Council. The initial lodge area served the civilian and military families on duty in Germany and
Austria. By 1959, the service area was expanded to include other military facilities in Europe,
the Near East, and in North Africa. (Courtesy of Chuck Kirkland, Nacha Chuppacat Chapter
Member, Black Eagle Lodge. April 28 2000)