Scout leaders Holcomb and Carpenter earn Wood Badge honors
Shawn Holcomb, from left, and Reed Carpenter received the Wood Badge Award and helped Tucker Pearson, Zach Nash, Samuel Sandstrom, Zach Holcomb and Colton Pearson to receive the Eagle Scout Award. (CONTRIBUTED)
MADISON – Reed Carpenter and Shawn Holcomb, leaders in Boy Scout Troop 7676, have earned Wood Badge credentials.
Holcomb knew Wood Badge is “the pinnacle of adult training” and wanted to better serve the youth. Carpenter accepted friends’ recommendations and hustled to complete the training.
Their training involved two three-day campouts with lectures and discussions emphasizing leadership principles and Scouting organization. They wrote vision statements and completed five “tickets,” or projects to benefit their units.
Patrol Leader Mike Bertram made campouts more enjoyable and reduced any hassles.
“Wood Badge participants gain practical tools as leaders,” Carpenter said. “I still have lots to learn … and Wood Badge definitely made a huge contribution (for) my skill set.”
Carpenter earned his Eagle and worked on camp staffs in the Great Salt Lake Council. “After retiring from the Air Force, I caught the Pinewood Derby bug and helped parents and kids perfect their little wooden racers,” he said.
In 2011, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Madison Stake asked Carpenter to lead 11-year-old Scouts. “It’s … a miracle to watch these Scouts gain skills and confidence,” he said.
Carpenter works on Redstone Arsenal with the Space and Missile Defense Command. He received a bachelor’s degree at Eastern Montana College. During Wood Badge study, Carpenter completed his master’s degree from American Military University.
Holcomb has worked with Scouting as an adult for more than 10 years as Assistant Scoutmaster, Scoutmaster, Cubmaster and Unit Commissioner.
At NASA, Holcomb works as team lead on the Space Launch System. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Shawn and his wife Hope have three children: Zach, a James Clemens High School freshman; Ranoah, seventh-grader, Liberty Middle School; and Skylah, fifth-grader, Mill Creek Elementary School. Zach received his Eagle the same night when Shawn received the Wood Badge.
Carpenter and Holcomb received the Wood Badge in the Court of Honor with Eagle Scouts Samuel Sandstrom, Spencer Shafer, Zach Nash, Zach Holcomb, Colton Pearson and Tucker Pearson.
