To the Land of Beaches and Bikinis

Abstract

<p>During the summers of 1977 and 1978, I worked for the U.S. Forest service on the Eglin Air Force Reservation in northwest F)orida. I was a crew leader for the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) camp which the Forest Service maintained on the reservation during the summer months. These two summers were my first real exposure to the art of supervision and I admit that I had a lot to learn. Each summer as I prepared for my journey southward, I was treated to a barrage of kidding. "Don't you think it would be better to go to Florida in the winter?" "Will you spend December in the Artie?" "Are you going to bring an alligator home with ·you?" Naturally, I ignored these snide remarks and headed away from the mountains where all my classmates seemed to be going.</p>