Every participant (youth and adults) typically receives an event patch. Every Troop will typically receive a participation ribbon for their Troop flag. If a patrol places 1st at a station or 1st, 2nd, 3rd overall, they will receive an award ribbon. The cost of Night Ops covers the campground and the costs associated with running the event. Any excess funds that we have at the end of Night Ops go toward other event projects and toward improving Camp Aiken. Food, tents, etc. is the responsibility of the attending troops.
Keep in mind that each Night Ops event may be structured differently. The following schedule is the one followed by the original Night Ops event at Camp Aiken. Friday 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM | Arrive at Camp Your troop will arrive at camp, check-in, and then setup camp. If you are running late, you may choose to setup camp after the main event is over but that’ll be 3am in the morning. ASAP | Patrols Check-In Once you have setup camp or are otherwise ready, grab your gear and head to the Command Tent to receive your orders (patrol packet). You are required to complete the packet before your patrol will be cleared to start the main event (which is done after the briefing around 10:00 PM). The information in the packet is a set of coordinates, maps and instructions that you will use to pinpoint the location of the Event Stations; this map must be checked off by the Staff to ensure that you understand where you are going. Other instructions may need to be completed prior to starting as well. ASAP | Adult Volunteer Check-In Adults – you need to check-in at the Volunteer Tent as soon as possible to get your assignments and supplies. The station leaders will need time to brief you on the skill challenge and rules prior to the event starting so the sooner you are checked-in, the better. Remember, this event can not happen without enough volunteers. 9:00PM – 10:00 PM | Main Event Starts All patrols will be gathered at the meeting point to be briefed by the Event Staff. Your patrol will be assigned an Event Station to begin at but, from there, you will decide which station to go to next until you have completed all of the stations. After you are done, your entire patrol will check-in at the Command Tent to sign out for the evening. Saturday 3:00 AM | Main Event Wraps Up We have a cut-off for the event to prevent us from staying up all night. If your patrol has not completed a station by 3:00 AM you must communicate with the Command Tent to see if that station is still open. It is okay to not finish all of the stations, but we need to know which stations you skip so we can send the station volunteers to bed in a timely manner. After all, we still have to enter the scores for all of the patrols for all of the stations. Station Volunteers will check-in at the Command Station to turn in any paperwork and report on any important observations before heading to bed. The Scoring Team will stay up to enter and confirm the scores; this can take 2-4 hours depending on how many patrols there were and how many event stations. ~ 11:00 AM | Debriefing & Award Ceremony Everyone will gather at the central bonfire ring for our event wrap up meeting. The Station Volunteers will have a chance to discuss what happened at their station during the night and then award the 1st place ribbon for their station. We will then announce which patrols scored 1st, 2nd and 3rd overall. All scores will be available for review. We then ask for feedback about the event before having a short word of encouragement/life lesson and a prayer. Your Troop may choose to pack up and leave afterwards or stay and camp Saturday night. Optional Saturday Activities Some years, there are optional activities for Saturday for the troops who choose to stay and camp out Saturday night.
If anyone has been ill in the 48 hours prior to the event, we recommend that they not attend. Same for if someone in their family has had any signs of any potentially contagious illness (stomach bugs, COVID, etc.). This is both to protect others as well as the individual in question as staying up all night, getting wet, and otherwise exerting yourself can pose a health risk.