FLORIDA

Pensacola - Naval Air Station:

At Pensacola troops can bring their own tentage and stay at the group camping area.

As is the case at most military bases, food in the dining hall is inexpensive. The view is great (overlooks the Gulf of Mexico, awesome view). Scouts will enjoy the weekend free visiting hours of the Land Survival School. It was at this very school that Col. Scott O'Grady (the Air Force Pilot who was shot down & survived uncaptured in Bosnia for five days) learned how to do that. Of the joys of learning which bugs to eat! Nearby the U.S. Department of the Interior operates Fort Barrackis which was held by the Confederacy throughout the Civil War, it is across the bay from another fort which the Union Controlled.

Finally the National Naval Aviation Museum is here at the NAS base. It too is free, it is huge, and has a wonderful gift shop. The Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Saratoga, just decommissioned from active duty, is also nearby for practice take off and landings by NAS school personnel.

(Updated on June 21 2022)

NOAA Aircraft Operations Center

Terry Lynch wrote the following on Scouts-L:

And now for the plug. As I haven't posted to the list in a while, I'll mention it now. I work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Aircraft Operations Center, at MacDill AFB in Tampa. If y'all ever have a Scout troop in the Tampa/St. Pete area and would like a tour of our (NOAA's) aircraft, give me a call. I love showing off our planes, especially to scout groups! Hangared at MacDill we have the two Hurricane Hunter P-3's, our new G-IV that we use for hurricane surveillance, and a half dozen other light aircraft. The base has allowed my troop to camp overnight a few times and I suspect that we could set that up for other troops as well.

Terry Lynch
Troop 263
Committee Chairman
St. Petersburg, Florida

NOAA/AOC/Science & Engineering Division
PO Box 6829
7917 Hangar Loop Drive, Hangar #5
MacDill AFB, FL 33608-3045
(813) 828-3310 x3045
(813) 828-5061 Fax

Space Center Alternative:

Space Challenge Centers are located all over the USA and in Canada. The staff mentioned that there are plans for centers in Europe too. Here is the link to find out more about them and where the closest one to you is:

http://frankenstein.worldweb.net/challenger/network.html

You need to have a min of 18 ( you need to have that many to man the stations of mission control and the space shuttle) and a max of 34.

The centers are dedicated to the Space Shuttle Challenger and Krista McAulliffe (the teacher) that exploded in January 1986. These centers are to help continue Krista's mission of teaching students about space and science and more.

The centers' program fulfills requirements for the Space Exploration Merit Badge - #4,6,7