Skipper

CAV. DAVID N. TARANTINO
Cav. David N. Tarantino is a member of a long standing Scouting Family who has volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America and the Italian Scout Association for 6 generations and Sea Scouting for 4 generations.
David served from 2016-2017 as the NER Boatswain’s Mate and from 2017-2018 as the NER Boatswain and a founding member of the National Quarterdeck. He was a member of the Northeast Region Executive Board for the 2016-2018 terms.
He is a former member of the Northeast Region Sea Scout Committee where he served as Vice Commodore of Administration. He was also involved as a Ship Growth and Retention Mentor for the State of New Jersey for 3 years. During his tenure the Sea Scout program in New Jersey saw a 300% positive growth due to his leadership.
Currently, he is the Skipper of Ship 1908 Rising Phoenix and the NNJC Council Commodore Emeritus. He was an advisor of both the Communications and Events Support Sub-Committees ran by the National Quarterdeck. In 2020 he was asked to serve on the task force that wrote the handbook for Council Commodores. He has served in various positions in Cub Scouts, Venturing, Varsity Scouts, STEM Scouts, and Exploring. He was the founding Scoutmaster of Troop 1908G which makes him one of the first 8 scoutmasters to serve a female troop in the North Jersey area. David served as the Interim Skipper for Ship 228 SSS Sea Dart II for the 2022 year. He currently serves as the Asst. District Commissioner for Three Rivers District-South where he works to help bring Scouting into areas that have not had the program for close to 30 years. In past years he served the Northern New Jersey Council as a member of the Training, NESA, Stem Scout, Scoutreach, and Venturing Committees. David serves as the Advisor of Venturing Crew 1908 our land based high adventure program as well as Executive Officer of Maritime Exploring Post 1908 our auxiliary program. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Friends of the Rising Phoenix which is the non-profit organization that charters all 3 of our units. He also serves as Asst. Scoutmaster of Troop 146 in Hoboken chartered by St. Francis Parish.
David is a member of the Catholic Committee on Scouting in the Archdiocese of Newark where he serves as a Religious Emblems Counselor. In this position, he has mentored many youth in all of the religious emblems from Cub Scouts to Sea Scouts as well as the International Awareness Award.
He participated and earned his Seabadge pin at SB-34-NY-17. He has staffed Seabadge 51-NJ-19 and Seabadge 62-NY-21 and was Course Director for Seabadge 67-NJ-22 the SSS Cast of Characters. He is the Godfather of Seabadge training in both the Spanish and Italian languages having proposed and organized the first trilingual Seabadge course in Union City, NJ. David is an instructor on SEAL Long Island. In Sea Scouting he has been awarded both the Gold Seabadge and Gold SEAL Pins for excellence in training. He has also completed Woodbadge course N5-341-17 and holds 3 beads. He completed his Powderhorn Training, Kodiak and Kodiak X as well as Seabadge Underway. As a youth, he served on staff at the Sea Scout Exhibit at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree. He graduated from SEAL Long Island Sound Course SL-74-NY-16. He is active in the Order of the Arrow as a Brotherhood Member. He is a recipient of the Scouting Vale la Peña and Asian American Spirit of Scouting Service Awards for leadership to inner city Scouting. In 2023 he was honored by the Archdiocese of Newark by receiving the Archbishop’s Scouters Award from Bishop Gregory Studerous.
David is the Director of Sacred Music Emeritus at the parish of Sts. Joseph and Michael in Union City, NJ. While a parishoner there he served as a Catechist, Lector, Eucharistic Minister, Pastoral Council Member and Finance Council Member. He is also a Choral and Operatic vocalist having performed around the world including at Carnegie Hall, Budapest Palace of the Arts, and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and has received accolades from around the world. Currently he attends and is a parishioner of St. Francis Parish in Hoboken. There he serves as a Eucharistic Minister, Cantor and Master of Ceremonies as well as a member of the Holy Name Society. In the Archdiocese of Newark aside from his duties on the Catholic Committee on Scouting he serves as a member of the Apostolato Italiano dell’Arcidiocesi di Newark. He is a 3rd degree Knight of Columbus and has served as the Deputy Grand Knight of the St. Francis Council in Hoboken, NJ. He is very active in the Italian American community in Union City, NJ and currently serves as the Coordinator of the Servant of God Mary Grace Bellotti Prayer Group and League as well as Presidente della Società of La Società del Tufo of Union City, NJ. He is a graduate of New Jersey City University where he a received a bachelor’s degree in Music Business. David is a member of the Board of Directors of Liberty Nautical Education Center which focuses on giving youth from the inner city areas a maritime education. He is a proud member of UNICO National and the American Choral Directors Association. He is also engaged to Dama Victoria Wefer, our Committee Chair, and they will be married in May of 2025.