 For more than 50 years, scouting in Northern Japan has enjoyed a strong bond bridging cultural barriers between young boys and girls. 2016 marks the 24th consecutive year Misawa Air Base has hosted International Scout Day. It's a good experience. I get to talk with a lot of the English scouts here and I make many new friends every year and learn more about the American scouts. Misawa's 35th Fighter Wing Vice Commander Colonel Travis Rex was the event's featured speaker. I can tell you both on the the Boy Scout side as well as the leader side what a different scouting makes in the lives of our young men and women. They learn values, they learn skills that they're going to use throughout their the rest of your youth and into adulthood. International scouting is the largest voluntary youth movement in the world with a membership of more than 28 million boys and girls. Betty Officer Benjamin Kittleson, Misawa Air Base, Japan.