Boy Scouts of the Broken Arrow District Scouters of Ames learned how to effectively brave harsh winter conditions during Winter Survival Training from the Persian Rifles and ISU ROTC students.

Cadets from the Army, Air Force and Navy ROTC programs conducted on Saturday a variety of training for the scouts in both indoor and outdoor settings.

Training began for the scouts around 8:30 a.m. and lasted until about 3:30 p.m. Indoor training was conducted by cadets from all three ROTC branches.

About 12 groups of 15 to 20 Boy Scouts participated in round-robin training — half were indoors and half were outdoors throughout the day.

Air Force Cadet Lance Dorenkamp, freshman in meteorology, provided the scouts training on how to signal if one is lost in the woods and encounters trouble. These methods included building a fire and using wet leaves to create a smoke signal. He also taught the scouts how to use a mirror to signal an airplane passing overhead.

Air Force Cadet Derick Wolf, sophomore in aerospace engineering, conducted training on cold weather injury prevention. Wolf’s instruction included information on what can happen during winter exposure, where people tend to lose the most body heat and which parts of the body are most likely to get frostbitten.

“I really liked being able to interact with the kids,” Wolf said. “The scouts got to learn what we did, and if any of them ever had any interest in joining the Air Force, they got to ask us questions.”

The Persian Rifles, a club open to all ISU students, conducted the five outdoor training events. These events included building shelter, land navigating without a compass, finding food and water in the wilderness, administering first aid and building a fire.

Army Cadet Lt. Col. Andrew Wells, senior in anthropology, taught the scouts different ways of finding north. These methods included using the shadow-tip method, the moon and the stars, the wristwatch method and the improvised compass.

Wells also taught the scouts ways of finding direction by using rings on cut-down trees, following rivers and using terrain association.

“Teaching the scouts gave me a chance to reminisce back to when I was in their shoes,” said Wells, who was an Eagle Scout for about five years.

The Persian Rifles and the different ROTC programs have conducted this training for the Boy Scouts for about eight years.

Sgt. First-Class Kent Decker said the cadets gain winter survival experience by providing the scouts with the training. He said even if they do not know the skills, they learn them when the training is conducted.

“The Boy Scouts are the ones who really reap the benefits,” Decker said.