ALBRO RILE HONOR UNITS

The Albro Rile Honor Unit awards were established in 1991 to recognize an exceptional level of Scout, parent and leader participation in District and Unit activities. The awards were named to recognize Albro Rile, a long-time Los Alamos community leader and distinguished Scouter.

Albro Rile moved to Los Alamos in the summer of 1947 and immediately became involved in the community. Several generations of youth and adults came to know, love and respect him through his many activities including Scouts, teaching fire safety and first aid, and his participation in church and civic organizations. He was recognized everywhere and was far more than Fire Chief Rile. He always had time to say 'hello' and ask how things were going. You always knew he cared about you and were always at ease in his presence regardless of your age. He was a teacher and a leader. He could talk to a group of Cub Scouts about first aid and keep them captivated for half-an-hour or more; just enough blood and gore to tweak their interest while he was spoon feeding them the important things they needed to learn about first aid. He had the same ability to captivate his audience when teaching first aid or fire safety at Los Alamos National Laboratory. "The first thing you do when you check into a hotel is locate the stairs leading to the ground level and count the number of doors from your room to the exit" is an example of one of the first things many of us instinctively do who were members of Albro's classes.

Albro Rile was born March 19, 1920. He joined Boy Scout Troop 32 in Hastings, NY in April 1932 and went on to earn his Eagle on October 24, 1935 and receive his Silver Palm in 1938. In his Scout advancement book he listed distinguished people he had met--Daniel Carter Beard, James E. West, Wm. Boyce Thompson, Fire Chief Chambers and President Roosevelt. He became Scoutmaster of Troop 32 in April 1941 and served in that position until he left for the U.S. Army on November 17, 1942. Upon his return he served as Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 32 from March 1946 to June 1947.

The Rile's moved to Los Alamos, NM, in the summer of 1947. Upon arriving in Los Alamos, he became Advancement Chairman for Troop 22 and served in that capacity until December 1947 when be became Scoutmaster of Troop 22. He served in that capacity through February 1950. He earned the Scoutmaster's Key in 1951 and the Arrowhead Award in 1953 and received the Silver Beaver in 1951. Albro served in many capacities in the district including District Commissioner and District Chairman and was an active member of the District Committee until his death June 1, 1991. He was a member of the Council Executive Board for more than seventeen years. In April 1982, he was recognized as a 50-year veteran of the Boy Scouts of America.

Albro was deeply involved in the United Church, YMCA, Lions Club and Civil Defense and was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He received the New Mexico State Distinguished Public Service Award. In 1977 he was quoted as saying "I've slowed down, though. I only spend about two nights a week on community service now, but once it was four nights a week plus many weekends."

He attributed interest in his life-long fire fighting profession to an "obsession" he had after earning the Firemanship merit badge in 1934 and joined the Hastings-on-Hudson, New York fire department when he turned twenty-one. He became fire marshal for the Los Alamos Area Office fire department and was a leader in local and state arson investigating groups, coordinator of fire prevention week programs and organizer and training officer of the auxiliary fire brigade and search and rescue unit in Los Alamos.

The picture of Albro was taken in 1979 by Bob Bartholomew.