The Road from Life to Eagle Rank

New in Troop 387 - “Check-Steps” Meetings during Life rank

The Troop Committee (TC) and Scoutmaster (SM) have agreed upon a new idea with the goal of helping Life scouts. Each Life scout will meet for 30 minutes every 6 months with a small group of adult leaders during the term of Life rank to discuss questions, progress and/or obstacles in the road to Eagle.

There Are Four Keys to Advancement from Life to Eagle, and these are explained in detail below:

  1. Show Leadership
  2. Show scout spirit by being active in the troop
  3. Complete Merit Badges
  4. Do an Eagle Service Project

Show Leadership

  1. Hold a 6-month term of an appropriate elected or appointed position during Life rank
  2. Work with the troop and younger scouts at meetings, troop events, council events

Show Scout Spirit

  1. Be active within troop at meetings, troop events, council events
  2. Demonstrate scout law and scout oath in your everyday life

Complete Merit Badges (MBs):

  1. Complete at least21 MBs. Of these 21 badges, twelve are “Eagle-required”, and the others may be chosen based on the scout’s personal interests. To have earned Life rank, a minimum of 6 Eagle-required MBs must have already been earned.

Do an Eagle Project

  1. An Eagle service project should benefit a church, a school, or community (the beneficiary cannot be an individual or Boy Scouts). The project should require about 100 man-hours of labor on the project itself, not including the scout’s own planning time and work time.
  2. Before proceeding with anyproject, the scout must first receive approval of the idea for the project by submitting a 1-2 paragraph description to the SM.
  3. Download the “Eagle Project Workbook” from internet
  4. Using the Eagle Project workbook, and working under the guidance of the troop’s Eagle Project Advisor, develop a very detailed step-by-step plan.
  5. Keep a record of all time & dates spent on planning; save this for the final Project write-up
  6. Once the Eagle Advisor has approved the project write-up, the scout asks the TCChairman to schedule a date for a presentation to the TC.
  7. Distribute either digital or hard copies to the TC members prior to the presentation.
  8. Make a presentation of the project to the members of the TC.
  9. If the project is approved, the TC chairman signs the Workbook’s signature page.
  10. Meet with Council’s Eagle Rep to discuss the project and get his signature on the signature page.
  11. Steps #2-10must all be completed before workdays can begin on the Eagle project.
  12. During the project, document all details,including any changes to the plan, receipts for expenses, names, dates & hours donated by every volunteer, photos of the project workdays
  13. After the project is completed, type the final pages in the Eagle Project workbookto show changes, volunteer hours, etc.
  14. Obtain a letter from the project’s beneficiary stating that ithas completed to their satisfaction

The Three Final Hurdles After All Requirements are Completed:

  1. An “Eagle Notebook”
  2. The SM Conference
  3. The Eagle BOR

Make an Eagle Notebook in preparation for the SM Conference and Eagle BOR

1.Once all Eagle rank requirements are completed, obtain from the Advancement Chair a print-out of the Advancement History data sheet showing the dates of ranks, MBs, and leadership terms.

2.As soon as possible, give the Advancement Chairman of list of the references mentioned in #3a.ii below. The Advancement Chairman will send out the reference forms to these people, and must receive responses from at least 3 of them before the Eagle BOR can be scheduled.

3.Under the guidance of the troop’s Eagle Notebook Advisor, prepare a 3-ring notebookwith:

  1. Eagle Rank Application form which has been downloaded from the internet
  2. using the Advancement History data sheet, fill in dates of rank advancement, leadership terms, and the 21 merit badges and dates of completion
  3. Select 5 personal references for the Eagle rank application, but first contact these references for permission to use their names; give a list of these names & addresses to the Advancement Chairman. (These references may NOT be invited to participate on the scout’s Eagle BOR panel; once these names are submitted to the council on the Eagle rank application, they cannot be changed or substituted.)
  4. Typewritten essay of 1-3 pages entitled “Personal Statement of Life Goals”
  5. Apersonal resume, showing honors and leadership in scouts, school, church, etc.
  6. Advancement History data sheet, mentioned in #1
  7. Eagle Project workbook, including final write-up and photos
  8. Letter from the beneficiary of the Eagle Service Project.

4.The Eagle Notebook Advisor must approve the documents in the Eagle Notebook before the scout can submit it to the Scoutmaster.

5.Make one extra copy of the entire Eagle notebook for your safekeeping in case the original is misplaced or damaged, before giving the notebook to the Scoutmaster.

The Scoutmaster Conference

1.Submit the Eagle Notebook to the SM. Once the SM is satisfied with the contents, he and the scout will schedule the Eagle-rank SM Conference. After this meeting, the SM signs the Eagle application form in the appropriate places. This step must be completed prior to the scout’s 18th birthday.

2.The Advancement Chairman submits the completed Eagle rank application to the local council.

3.The council either approves the application, OR returns it if there are inconsistenciesin dates on rank or MBs. The scout and Advancement Chairman must correct it and resubmit it.

4.At the same time, the Eagle Notebook is submitted to the local council’s District Executive (D.E.) who must approve the final write-up of the Eagle Project Workbook.

The Eagle Board of Review (BOR)

1.Develop a list of potential Eagle BOR members, with guidance from Advancement Chair, SM. Eagle BOR panel members may NOT be registered adults within the scout’s own troop. They may not include any of the 5 references listed on the scout’s Eagle rank application. The scout may usually include one or two people who know him well. All other members of the panel should be people who are not familiar, or who are only vaguely familiar, with the scout.

2.Confirm 2potential dates and locations where both SM and Council’s Eagle Rep can attend

3.Make personal phone calls to potential BOR members until a panel of at least 5 additional members have committed to participate on the selected date. The SM and the Council’s Eagle rep will bring the total panel to 7.

4.Reconfirm the date by phone with all members of the BOR panel, SM, council’s Eagle rep.

5.Prepare uniform, merit badge sash, uniform insignia

6.Review information which might be asked at BOR on scouting history, uniform insignia, etc. The scout’s parents can help prepare him by engaging him in conversations or question-and-answer sessions using potential questions from this list:

7.Thoroughly review the details of the Eagle Scout Service Leadership Project – many of the BOR questions will be asking the scout about his project’s details, changes, volunteers, and expenses. There may also be general questions about what the scout learned from the planning and completion of a large volunteer project.

8.Make personal phone calls 1-2 days prior, to remindall the BOR panel of time and location.

9.Make several copies of the Eagle notebook for distribution to each member of the BOR panel.

10.The Advancement Chair provides to the SM or the BOR any information received from the scout’s 5 personal references. The Advancement Chair may also attend the Eagle BOR.

11.Show up on time and in full uniform for Eagle BOR

12.The BOR panel and scout meetabout 1 hour to discuss his Eagle service project, scouting history, and character.

13.The scout then waits outside the meeting room while the BOR panellooks over the scout’s documents in the Eagle Notebook, and the personal references. They take a vote on whether or not to award Eagle rank. The SM (and the Advancement Chairman) may not ask questions during the BOR, and they do not have a vote.

14.The scout is returned to the BOR panel’s meeting room to be informed of their decision. If the scout is granted Eagle rank, the council’s Eagle representative signs the Eagle rank application. This is the final signature needed to complete the application.

15. Before the participants disperse, the scout and the SM and/or Advancement Chairman must agree on who is responsible for taking the signed Eagle rank application to the council office. A copy of the document should be made for safekeeping before the application is submitted to the council office.

16.The scout is entitled to keep his original Eagle Notebook as a keepsake, except for the original Eagle rank application. The signed application form is the only item submitted to National BSA.

After the BOR:

  1. The signed application is re-submitted to the council office, and then submitted to the National BSA office. Official approval and notification from national BSA takes about 2 weeks. If the notification does not arrive within a short period of time, the scout or Advancement Chair should investigate with the local council office to verify that the application was indeed submitted to National BSA.
  2. Official notification of the Eagle Rank is mailed to the scout or SM, including an Eagle Scout certificate. This certificate should be saved for presentation at the Eagle Court of Honor.
  3. The planning for the Eagle Court of Honor can begin as soon as notification from National BSA has been received.
  4. Once the Eagle rank has been officially awarded, the scout’s name is placed on a list in the Trading Post at the scout office, entitling him to purchase an Eagle scout pin and patch.