For the past four years, Mr. Justin Mostert, Protocol Officer for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport, has volunteered countless hours as a Scoutmaster for Troop 82 in Portsmouth, RI.

Within the Boy Scouts of America program, Mr. Mostert oversees a group of about 41 young men between the ages of 11 and 17.  His goals for them are to build character, train in the responsibilities of good citizenship and develop personal fitness – just like what he learned during his years as a Boy Scout.  Mr. Mostert says the demographics of Boy Scouts are very much like America:  all religions, all socioeconomic backgrounds, all academic abilities, all levels of athleticism, but one quality that is typical of all Boy Scouts is character.  While other aspects of a boy’s make-up will run the gamut, character and values are the common base among his scouts and Mr. Mostert considers it his responsibility to foster this development.   He says Boy Scouts promotes character traits through a variety of different methods and ties them all together in ways that other activities do not cover.

“Boy Scouts can either fill a possible void in their lives or it can reinforce good values that they already have.  While some young people face peer pressure to do negative, harmful things, the Boys Scouts has its own peer pressure to not do those things,” says Mr. Mostert.

After Mr. Mostert earned the rank of Eagle Scout, he went on to the Naval Academy and was a Navy pilot for 21 years.  In 2004, he accepted a position at Division Newport as the Administrative Officer for the Business Resource Directorate and was subsequently selected as the Protocol Officer.  He looks back on his time in Boy Scouts and says he would not be where he is today without that influence.  Because of this, Mr. Mostert felt compelled to give back and help other young men learn what he learned.   He works with Troop 82, spending over 30 hours a month on various Scouting activities, such as weekly meetings, one weekend every month camping, and other Scouting support and events.  During his tenure as a Scoutmaster, he has made a positive and lasting impact on the lives of over 100 young men.   He resides in Portsmouth, RI with his wife, Anne, and is the father to three children, Brad, age 26, Libby, 16 and Josh, 14.