Becoming an Eagle Scout

The ranks of Scout through First Class prepare a scout with the outdoor skills and citizenship. One goal of Scouts BSA is for every scout to achieve the First Class rank. The subsequent ranks of Star, Life, and Eagle are increasing demonstrations of a scouts leadership potential.

When to Start?

The serious planning for eagle scout starts as the scout becomes a life scout. For any First Class scout who has reached age 16, we also recommend that they plan out the timeline/activities tor each eagle as it must be accomplished by age 18.

The Four Parts of Becoming Eagle

The official requirements (last updated 2022) are here and supersede any information on this website. However, the following pages provide a more thorough description. Some sections have highlighted notes for coaches.

1. Merit Badge Requirements for Eagles:   By the time the scout reaches the Life rank, they have likely made significant progress on merit badge requirements.  Several of these badges are more time consuming than others.  Personal Management, Personal Fitness, and Family Life all have 3-month tracking requirements associated with them.  Cooking is also time intensive.  If you have not already completed these badges, make sure you factor the time commitments into your planning, particularly if your Eagle deadline is soon approaching.   Be sure to read the Merit Badge Procedures.

2. Leadership:  You can complete your leadership requirement at any point during your time as a Life scout.   Some scouts choose to knock out their leadership element right away knowing that there will likely be time constraints associated with high school or other extracurricular activities.  Other scouts might choose to complete the leadership requirement later.  

   1. 1. 1. • Ideally, the Troop’s goal is for Life Scouts to not only complete the required six months of leadership, but to remain active leaders for the continuation of their time in the Troop.  Life Scouts (generally older scouts) are critical to the development of our younger scouts, and therefore, the continuation of the Troop.  

            • Troop Guide and Instructor are ideal leadership positions for older scouts who have completed their required leadership position and are simply looking to stay active.  They provide excellent opportunities to continue giving back to the Troop by sharing your knowledge with the younger scouts.  Focusing on these roles also provides more opportunities for the election-based leadership positions to remain available to scouts who have not yet had a chance to serve in those roles.

            • Regardless of the approach you take with the leadership requirement, it is important that you stay active in the Troop as much as possible until your Eagle journey is complete.  It is important to maintain your relationships with the Troop as you approach your Eagle Scout Service Project.  You will need to rely on volunteers from the Troop during your project.  Experience has shown that if you become inactive with the Troop for an extended time period, but then reappear just in time to complete your project, it is much more difficult to recruit the necessary support from your fellow scouts.

3. The Service Project (this has a lot of detail including some contacts for projects as well as a list of past projects)

4. The Application and Recognition Process including the paper work, recommendation, life ambition statement, and board of review.

The Eagle Coach

The scoutmaster describes the role of the Eagle coach during the scoutmaster conference for the life rank as does the board of review for the life rank. The scout and scoutmaster will work together find the best fit for that scout.    Our Troop's list of Eagle Coaches can be found here.    The Eagle Coaches are responsible for:

• offering the scout guidance on any requirements to be completed for the Eagle rank

• advising the scout throughout the process of choosing and completing the leadership service project

• guiding  the scout through the Eagle application process

Once the scout has been assigned an Eagle Coach, that adult leader will be reaching out to the scout to discuss the path forward.  They will be available as a coach for any and all requirements and issues the scout faces until the entire Eagle process has been completed.   If the scout needs to be assigned a new Eagle Coach for any reason, please reach out to the Advancement Coordinator.

Domain Experts and Co-Coaches

The coach may suggest other domain experts who can help the scout with a project and even serve as co-coach. This will be done in a YPT compliant way.

Guidance for Coaches

   Coaches:

• Adhere to the service project process as described in Guide to Advancement, topic 9.0.2.9.

• Have no authority to dictate changes, or withdraw approval that was previously granted.

• Strive to make his or her involvement a positive experience.

• Encourage a Scout to make the kinds of decisions that will lead to successful outcomes.

What Should you Know As A Parent (click for more info)

How Does the Troop Kick off the Process

The scoutmaster conference for life scout: The scoutmaster discusses the eagle coach and gives the action for the scout to consider who would be a good coach. They also go through the process of choosing a project and verbally gives any project contacts.

The board of the review for the life rank: During the feedback session, the board reviews their merit badges with specific advice for the missing ones. They go over at high level the four steps above. The scout should get:

• copy of their advancement report

• the link to the website: troop280.org/eagle

In addition, there will be a binder with a blank eagle application and a blank Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook  to go through.

After completing the life board of review, the advancement coordinator will send out a brief email to the scout and parents with:

• A link to this page

• A file containing contacts for the eagle paperwork.

Items for Both Coaches and Scouts

1. Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook 

2. Eagle Rank Application (Don’t fill this out manually. Use the report feature in ScoutBook)

3. Guide to Safe Scouting

4. Safe Project Tool usage

How to Generate your Eagle Scout Advancement Report from Scoutbook*

1. Login to Scoutbook

2. From the “My Dashboard” page, select the “Report Menu” option

3. From the popup menu that appears, select the “Individual Record” option

4. Select the “Scouts BSA Report” report type and click the “Generate Report” button

How to Prepare for your Eagle Board of Review

An Eagle Board of Review (BOR) is a bit different from the boards of review for other ranks. Instead of being run by the troop, the BOR is run by the district. The board will probably have people you haven’t met before. Many things will be the same, but a few things will be different.

Some things that remain the same:

• The purpose of the board is to determine the quality of the Scout’s experience and decide whether the requirements for the rank have been fulfilled

• It is expected that a Scout be in full field uniform for any board of review.

• A board of review must consist of no fewer than three members and no more than six, all of whom must be at least 21 years of age.

Some things that are different:

• In our district, the eagle candidate is expected to help locate a place for the board to meet, and to schedule the time and place of the meeting in cooperation with the Eagle board coordinator.

• The board is held after the application for Eagle rank has been verified by council

• For eagle rank, the scout identifies people who will write letters of recommendation. The Eagle board coordinator contacts those people to get the letters (the scout provides only contact information).

• The Eagle candidate is asked to bring three copies of several documents to the board:

  • Completed Eagle scout workbook

  • Record of positions of responsibility, honors, and awards

  • Life ambition statement

  • Working documents related to the Eagle project: pictures, maps, diagrams, plans, materials lists, daily rosters, notes, etc.

Be Prepared

The board’s purpose is to ensure that the requirements for the rank has been fulfilled, and to ensure that the scout has had a quality experience. Eagle rank is a big achievement, and Eagle candidates are held to high standards. Let’s look at each of the Eagle rank requirements, and how the board will review them. Before we look at each requirement, note this paragraph inserted after requirement 6 in the Scout Handbook:

In preparation for your board of review, prepare and attach to your Eagle Scout Rank Application a statement of your ambitions and life purpose and a listing of positions held in your religious institution, school, camp, community, or other organizations, during which you demonstrated leadership skills. Include honors and awards received during this service.

That statement of ambitions and purpose and list of positions, awards, and honors will come up a few times. Okay, now let’s look at the requirements, and how you can help the board review them:

1. Be active in your troop for at least six months as a Life Scout - it is easy for Council to check this requirement, so the board doesn’t focus on it. The board will look for evidence that you have been active. Think about your Scouting experience highlights and lowlights. Have you gone to Philmont? Sea Base? How often do you camp? What’s been your favorite camping experience? Have you ever been on a disastrous trip? What happened? What was your favorite summer camp - and why?

2. As a Life Scout, demonstrate Scout Spirit by living the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Tell how you have done your duty to God, how you have lived the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your everyday life, and how your understanding of the Scout Oath and Scout Law will guide your life in the future. List on your Eagle Scout Rank Application the names of individuals who know you personally and would be willing to provide a recommendation on your behalf…

The board probably doesn’t know you. They will read the letters of recommendation, but they will also ask you about the Scout Oath, the Scout Law, and how you feel they have influenced your life. Be Prepared to start the meeting by repeating the Scout Oath and Law from memory - have someone check if you are saying it right! It’s easy to mumble along with the troop, it’s a lot harder to remember it all alone in front of a board, so be prepared by practicing! You should be able to repeat the Outdoor Code as well. Be prepared to talk with specific examples about how you have lived the Oath and Law. Think about which words in the Scout Law have been most difficult for you, or which have made a big impact on your life. Be ready to tell a story about different aspects of the Scout Law, or to tell how you live the Scout Oath with a specific example.

The statement of your life purpose and ambition should encapsulate the Scout Oath and Law. How does what you want to do reflect the principles of scouting?

3. Earn a total of 21 merit badges…

Council will verify the merit badges, so the board won’t spend the time to count them, or check that you completed all the Eagle-required badges. The board does expect you to wear your merit badge sash - if you’ve lost it, consider bringing a paper list of the merit badges you’ve earned. The board will ask you which ones were easy/hard, which ones were fun, which were difficult. If you had an especially difficult time with a badge, be prepared to tell that story - did you get the badge? What made it hard for you? How did you react to the difficulty?

4. While a Life Scout, serve actively in your troop for six months in one or more of the following positions of responsibility…

The board will ask about the leadership positions you have held in the troop and in other organizations. What went well? When was it hard? Be prepared to tell the board about a problem or a challenge – how did you overcome it? Looking at your record of leadership, do the positions you have held reflect the Scout Oath and Law? Can you relate the problems/challenges you faced with aspects of the Oath or Law? What are your plans for continuing to serve your troop or community as an Eagle scout?

5. While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project 

The eagle project has three parts - a proposal, a plan, and a final report. Each of those parts can go well, or can be difficult. The board will ask you about the proposal - how did it go? Where did you get the idea? How many ideas did you go through before you finally got one approved? The board will look for evidence that you spent time planning - a proposal doesn’t have to have much detail, but the project needs a good plan, where more details are spelled out. Be prepared to show the documents you used for planning. Did your plan hold? What happened that you didn’t expect? How did you handle it? When you were done, did it cost what you expected? Where did the extra money come from, or where did the left over money go? While you were doing the project, what was challenging? What lessons did you learn? How would you change it next time?

6. While a Life Scout, participate in a Scoutmaster conference.

The board isn’t likely to ask about the Scoutmaster conference - we assume the Scoutmaster signed off on it, so he or she must be satisfied. The board may ask generally about whether you recall the conversation, and what you discussed there.

7. Successfully complete your board of review for the Eagle Scout rank.

This one is easy to verify, because the board is there, too!

A Word on Polish

Expectations for Eagles are pretty high - they are leaders who have done big things, and will go on to bigger things. Here are a few recommendations for putting yourself in the best light for your board of review:

• Get in the habit of using spell-checkers on all documents. It doesn’t take long to get the spelling right. Poor spelling and grammar look shabby and distract from your message. Typed documents are usually easier to read than hand-written ones - but the board will prefer to see the original documents you actually used rather than a fancy cleaned-up version. A worn, dirty Scout Handbook is evidence that it was used in the field.

• Document your project thoroughly. Put a date on notes pages. Write things down. If you took notes on a napkin, tape that napkin into your notebook. After a meeting, write notes on what you heard. Track your time when you do anything related to the Eagle project.

• Get someone to take pictures during your project workdays. Before & after pictures are good, but also get a picture of the crew each workday - the board isn’t there, but they want to know who you were leading. If there’s a problem, try to get a picture that illustrates the problem, and another picture that shows the solution.

• For your board, look your best - as full a uniform as you have (belt, socks), and include your merit badge sash. You are going to be an Eagle, so look the part!