Night Ops 2024 Event pages are UPDATED!
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Are you up to the challenge?

Find A Local Night Ops

Prepare For Night Ops

Run Your Own Night Ops​

Night Ops challenges a patrol's ability to work together when faced with scenarios testing their skills in first aid, night navigation, fire, water, knots & lashings, and teamwork.

Night Ops is a night-time, outdoor skills challenge for youth, ages 11 to 18. Youth form patrols of 3-8 members to compete as a unit in various skill challenges. Trailmen and American Heritage Girls do not compete together due to health and safety rules. As a volunteer led event, adults are expected to volunteer to assist in running the various stations and the event overall. 

The Skills You Will Need

Each Night Ops event may be structured differently and may not have all of the following skill challenges. 

How well you work as a team is critical not only so that you can score well, but so that you’ll actually enjoy the event. Some challenges are specifically designed to test your teamwork and communication.
We call this Night OPS for a reason. You should be fairly silent and stealthy (but not at risk to your safety). Some challenges will test your ability to be quiet and observe your surroundings. Failure to be stealthy may get you wet. #SuperSoakers

Your ability to use a map and compass to pinpoint locations on a map when given a set of bearings will be tested. How well you use that map to navigate will determine how efficiently you travel from station to station. Get a good compass.

We will give your patrol one or more first aid scenarios that you must respond to. This could include bleeding, broken bones, sprains, heart attacks, hypothermia, heat stroke, snake bites, etc.

We will task your patrol with building a fire to accomplish a specific task. Your fire building and fire safety skills will be tested. Reference the patrol supply list for what you are allowed to bring.
You will not be swimming or going in/on the water, but we will test your knowledge and skills in water safety through a knowledge test and skill challenge.
Your patrol will be asked to build a structure or tool out of the supplies provided at this station and then complete a task. Structures/tools could include: a signal tower, fishing pole, A-frame, and more.
Remember those maps and compass skills? Now we will test your ability to follow a set of bearings and your ability to accurately take bearings. A good compass will serve you well.

We will give you the decoder sheet (so you don’t have to memorize morse code) but don’t let that fool you. Accurately decoding a message takes teamwork, focus, and patience.

This is a timed event and takes place at night. You may want to plan the best way to go to all of the stations so that you maximize your time and minimize your travel. 

All of the events are planned so that you should be able to complete them all in the time allotted. All stations have a maximum amount of time that you can spend attempting the challenge.

When & Where

Walkthrough of Night Ops: Camp Aiken 2023

7 Videos

Frequently Asked Questions

On their designated weekends, any registered Trail Life and AHG youth ages 11+ are invited to participate with their patrol with their registered adult members helping out by manning a station during the night. 

Non-participating, registered youth are allowed to camp out with their troop but must have adequate registered adult supervision during the night. **Please limit non-participating youth; only youth who must come with a participating sibling /adult are allowed.

No. Adults must be fully registered with Trail Life or AHG (depending on which weekend they are attending) which means that you have passed the background check and completed the youth protection training.

All youth must be a registered member of Trail Life or AHG (depending on which weekend they are attending). Non-participating registered youth are discouraged but allowed; they cost the same as adults ($10 each).

Special cases may be allowed but you must make a direct request prior to the event as we must request permission from TLUSA.

Any individual who shows up and can not show proof of registration status will not be allowed through the gate. Period. This includes parents dropping off their registered youth.

If you contact us with enough lead time, we can put out a request to other troops who are attending to see if we can merge your youth into another patrol. No guarantees.

Yes. We have had several registered adult members attend to get an understanding for what Night Ops is and how it is run so that they can either run their own event /or/ get their youth excited for next year.

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.

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.

Part of the fun of Night Ops is the opportunity for adult volunteers to help man the different stations. Without volunteers, this event is not possible. As such, we strongly encourage adults to assist, but we understand the need for well-rested adults for safe driving. The more adults we have, the quicker the event will progress.

 Short answer – yes. For both safety reasons and respect for the other patrols participating, all patrols should do their best to stay until after the award ceremony. No one will be allowed to leave during the night unless for an emergency reason.

No. You are responsible for food, tents, etc. We are paying for the camp ground, supplies for the event, and for the porta-johns.

YES. Failure to provide the required documentation may result in your group not being allowed on the property. The documentation required for each group (TLUSA and AHG) are different so pay attention to the list on the Registration page.

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.

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