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Local leader earns award

Paul Honeycutt will receive the Silver Beaver Award, a special distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. (courtesy of Paul Honeycutt)

Local leader earns award

Paul Honeycutt served his country as a Navy pilot flying the F-14 Tomcat. He continues to serve his community as a volunteer and he serves the youth of America as a Scoutmaster. Now, he will receive an award for his efforts as a Boy Scout leader, an accolade he can add to many prestigious awards he has accumulated over his incredible lifetime.

Honeycutt will receive the Silver Beaver Award, a Council-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America, during a special ceremony in February at St. Michael’s Church in Poway.

The Silver Beaver Award

The rare Silver Beaver Award is presented to select registered adult leaders who “implement the Scouting program and perform community service through hard work, self-sacrifice, dedication and many years of service.” The Silver Beaver Award is the highest award presented at the Council level.

Honeycutt is the Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 616, the oldest troop in Scripps Ranch, chartered in 1971. The troop celebrated its 134th Eagle Scout in November 2017. Honeycutt is in his 14th year as an adult leader in the Boy Scouts. When he was young, he was a Boy Scout who earned the Eagle Scout designation with the Gold Palm.

As an adult Scout leader, Honeycutt has been awarded the Wood Badge for the 21st Century, the Scoutmaster Award of Merit, the Scout Leader’s Training Award, the Scoutmaster’s Key, the Order of the Arrow Vigil Honor, the James E. West Fellowship Award and the District Award of Merit, among other honors.

Honeycutt is also a dedicated, longtime community volunteer. The Scripps Ranch Civic Association named him Volunteer of the Year in 2013 and 2014, and Distinguished Volunteer in 2016. He continues to serve on the board of the Civic Association.

In 2016, Honeycutt received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his lifelong commitment to building a stronger nation through volunteer service, signed by President Barack Obama.

In addition, Honeycutt has coached in the Scripps Ranch Soccer League, the Scripps Ranch Softball League, the Girl Scout Basketball League, the National Junior Basketball League and has been a manager and coach in Scripps Ranch Little League.

While Honeycutt said his primary objective for the Scouts is to have fun, those in his troop can expect an active experience, especially connecting with nature. It’s a big part of what Scouting is all about. His Scouts have done plenty of camping and kayaking. They’ve kayaked along the Channel Islands and hiked for miles at the Philmont Scout Ranch along the Rockies in New Mexico. Honeycutt led a troop from the San Diego-Imperial Council to the Centennial National Jamboree in 2010.

“We’ve done some really fun, adventurous types of things. That’s part of what keeps me in there. Also, it keeps me young,” he said.

“It’s not for everyone, being around 11 to 17-year-old boys. But for me, I do enjoy it,” Honeycutt explained. “Being with the youth and helping them advance and seeing them mature, helping them along the Trail of the Eagle, it’s very rewarding.”

Honeycutt has a simple personal reason for continuing as a Scout leader, even though his son has been out of the troop for about seven years.

“Staying involved with Scouting is important to me because it helps me connect with nature. Otherwise, I probably would not spend as much time in the outdoors,” he said. “I think as a society, as a whole, we’re all affected by the lack of nature in our lives, and so this is a great opportunity for me to be outdoors to do camping, hiking, backpacking …”

Following an exciting career as a Naval aviator, highlighted by flying from the decks of aircraft carriers and flying aircraft at the former Miramar Top Gun School, Honeycutt retired from the Navy and has built a career as a financial advisor with Honeycutt, Smith & Associates, working with business owners and specializing in exit planning, among other financial solutions.

Honeycutt’s wife, Suzie, has a career as a physical therapist and is working at Sharp Hospital in Coronado. Both his daughter and son have followed in their father’s footsteps, graduating from college with military scholarships.

His daughter, Lauren, served five years as a Navy nurse. His son, Christopher (also an Eagle Scout) is training to fly the F-18 Super Hornet for the Navy at NAS Lemoore in Fresno.

Honeycutt recently became a grandfather. His daughter married a Wounded Warrior, Nick Vogt, a West Point graduate who lost both legs in Afghanistan in 2011. Vogt miraculously survived his severe injuries with the help of 400 units of blood in a massive transfusion.

“My daughter met him a couple years after his injury when she was on the Wounded Warrior floor of Bethesda Naval Hospital, and they fell in love,” Honeycutt explained, proudly. “They are now living in Ohio and they just had their first child, my first grandchild, in February … Her husband, Nick, is a testament to the sacrifice of our service members.”

The couple has been chosen as recipients of a custom, smart home built for them by the Gary Sinise Foundation. Sinise is an actor best known for his role as Lt. Dan in the movie “Forrest Gump.” He has become extremely active helping Wounded Warriors adapt to civilian life after their injuries.

To learn more about Nick and Lauren Vogt, visit bit.ly/2CB8ngW. Visit the Gary Sinise Foundation at garysinisefoundation.org. Learn more about Troop 616 at http://t616.org/.

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