Under Fire, on Top of the Mountain

A Trip to Subiaco, Arkansas

(June 8, 2026) By Regional Director & Troop 3 Captain, Dominic Ishmael

Some campouts go exactly as planned. This one didn’t, and it was better for it.

A small group of fathers and sons from Kapaun’s Boys made the drive south from Atchison, Kansas, to Subiaco, Arkansas. It turned out to be one of the most invigorating adventures in our troop’s short history. Before we even arrived, our “new” trailer blew a tire on the road. Lt. Lambert and I pulled over, put the boys to work, and we changed the tire on the side of the road and got back to the task at hand. It was our first reminder of the trip’s quiet theme: problems get solved, and we don’t wait for someone else to handle it.

Mount Magazine would reinforce that lesson at 2,753 feet. Four miles up to the highest point in Arkansas, four miles back down, through heat, terrain, and a sky that had other ideas. Every boy soldiered through it. A resolve that made our fathers so proud of what our boys had accomplished. The difficulty of the trail, the weight of the humidity, and the rain that rolled in mid-hike were not obstacles to be avoided. They were the purpose. There is something clarifying about a mountain that asks something of you, and our boys gave it what it asked and more.

When the weather wasn’t testing our resolve, Subiaco offered something rarer: unhurried time. We spent our afternoons playing pickleball, wandering the grounds, and spending time with the monks of Subiaco Abbey. Those conversations, brief as some of them were, put something in front of our boys that no classroom can manufacture: men who have given their lives entirely to God, living it out quietly in the Arkansas hills. That witness lands differently than a lesson – it penetrates to the core.

The weather was a constant reminder of the TSG motto and Troop 3’s: Parati Semper (Always Prepared & Under Fire, We Stand).

We had been monitoring the weather all weekend. We had arranged alternative lodging at the Abbey’s Guest House lounge should conditions turn. We spent the evening breaking down camp, leaving only our tents and sleeping essentials standing. Cleaning up camp. Getting the trailer hooked up and ready for a quick exit.

At 10pm, Lt. Anderson confirmed what the radar had been threatening: 40+ mph winds on the way that had produced tornadic activity North of Subiaco. We made the call, quickly packing up the rest of camp, moved inside, and slept soundly while the storm rolled through. The troop spent the night safely thanks to the Benedictine hospitality of our hosts.

That is, in short, what Kapaun’s Boys is supposed to be. Hard things done together. Beauty encountered along the way. Brotherhood built in the places where comfort runs out. And when the storm comes, we are ready for it.

Under Fire, We Stand. Sub Igne Stamus.