New Eagle Rank Requirements

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This is seventh in a series of posts about the new rank requirements that take effect on January 1, 2016.

Scout | Tenderfoot | Second Class | First Class | Star | Life | Eagle

Exactly how the new requirements are phased in is explained in this PDF document – Notes on Transitioning to the New Requirements.
I found the new requirements in this PDF – 2016 Boy Scout requirements—parallel comparison.

There are three major components of advancing from Star to Eagle – merit badges, service, and positions of responsibility.

I want to reflect on each of these components and suggest some changes. In my review of Star I’ll look at merit badges, in my review of Life I’ll look at positions of responsibility, and in my review of Eagle I’ll look at the service component.

Eagle Rank Requirement Changes

1. Be active in your troop for at least six months as a Life Scout.

A slight rewording in the new requirement, the “notes” section included in the new requirements (see below) indicate substituted terms for Varsity Scouts, Ventures, and Sea Scouts. Previously: “Be active in your troop, team, crew, or ship for a period of at least six months after you have achieved the rank of Life Scout”

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, including parents/guardians, religious (if not affiliated with an organized religion, then the parent or guardian provides this reference), educational, employer (if employed), and two other references.

Changed wording of the previous requirement clarifying a couple of aspects of the recommendations. Previously: “Demonstrate that you live by the principles of the Scout Oath and Law in your daily life. 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, including parents/guardians, religious, educational, and employer references.”

3. Earn a total of 21 merit badges (10 more than required for the Life rank), including these 13 merit badges: (a) First Aid, (b) Citizenship in the Community, (c) Citizenship in the Nation, (d) Citizenship in the World, (e) Communication, (f) Personal Fitness, (g) Emergency Preparedness OR Lifesaving, (h) Environmental Science OR Sustainability, (i) Personal Management, (j) Swimming OR Hiking OR Cycling (k) Camping (l) Family Life, and (m) Cooking. You must choose only one of the merit badges listed in categories g, h, and j. Any additional merit badge(s) earned in those categories may be counted as one of your eight optional merit badges used to make your total of 21.

Changed wording that clarifies some common misunderstandings, previously: “Earn a total of 21 merit badges (10 more than you already have), including the following:” I offer my reflections on merit badges in my review of Star requirements.

4. While a Life Scout, serve actively in your troop for six months in one or more of the following troop positions of responsibility:⁹

• Boy Scout troop. Patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, senior patrol leader, troop guide, Order of the Arrow troop representative, den chief, scribe, librarian, historian, quartermaster, bugler, junior assistant Scoutmaster, chaplain aide, instructor, webmaster, or outdoor ethics guide.⁴
• Varsity Scout team. Captain, co-captain, program manager, squad leader, team secretary, Order of the Arrow team representative, librarian, historian, quartermaster, chaplain aide, instructor, den chief, webmaster, or outdoor ethics guide.
• Venturing crew/Sea Scout ship. President, vice president, secretary, treasurer, den chief, quartermaster, historian, guide, boatswain, boatswain’s mate, yeoman, purser, storekeeper, webmaster, or outdoor ethics guide.
• Lone Scout. Leadership responsibility in your school, religious organization, club, or elsewhere in your community.

Two changes: Venture patrol leader is removed from the list and the addition of an option for lone Scouts.

Previously: “While a Life Scout, serve actively in your unit for a period of six months in your unit in one or more of the following positions of responsibility. List only those position served after your Life board of review date.“

• Boy Scout troop. Patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, senior patrol leader, Venture patrol leader, troop guide, Order of the Arrow troop representative, den chief, scribe, librarian, historian, quartermaster, bugler, junior assistant Scoutmaster, chaplain aide, instructor, troop Webmaster, or Leave No Trace trainer.
• Varsity Scout team. Captain, co-captain, program manager, squad leader, team secretary, Order of the Arrow troop representative, librarian, historian, quartermaster, chaplain aide, instructor, den chief, team Webmaster, or Leave No Trace trainer.
• Venturing crew/ship. President, vice president, secretary, treasurer, den chief, quartermaster, historian, guide, boatswain, boatswain’s mate, yeoman, purser, storekeeper, crew/ship Webmaster, or Leave No Trace trainer.

5. While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. (The project must benefit an organization other than the Boy Scouts of America.) A project proposal must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your Scoutmaster and unit committee, and the council or district before you start. You must use the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, BSA publication No. 512-927, in meeting this requirement. (To learn more about the Eagle Scout service project, see the Guide to Advancement, topics 9.0.2.0 through 9.0.2.16.)

Only change here is using ‘Scoutmaster’ instead of ‘unit leader’. Previously: While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. (The project must benefit an organization other than Boy Scouting.) A project proposal must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your unit leader and unit committee, and the council or district before you start. You must use the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, BSA publication No. 512- 927, in meeting this requirement. (To learn more about the Eagle Scout service project, see the Guide to Advancement, topics 9.0.2.0 through 9.0.2.15.)

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

Slight rewording of the previous – “Take part in a Scoutmaster conference.”

7. Successfully complete your board of review for the Eagle Scout rank. 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. (This requirement may be met after age 18, in accordance with Guide to Advancement topic 8.0.3.1.)¹⁰

Slight rewording of the previous – “Successfully complete an Eagle Scout board of review. 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. (This requirement may be met after age 18; see below.)”

The following notes append the revised list of requirements;

NOTE: For Varsity Scouts working on Boy Scout requirements, replace “troop” with “team” and “Scoutmaster” with “Varsity Scout Coach.” For Venturers working on Boy Scout requirements, replace “troop” with “crew” and “Scoutmaster” with “Crew Advisor.” For Sea Scouts working on Boy Scout requirements, replace “troop” with “ship” and “Scoutmaster” with “Skipper.”

9 Assistant patrol leader and bugler are not approved positions of responsibility for the Eagle Scout rank. Also, a Scoutmaster-approved leadership project cannot be used in lieu of serving in a position of responsibility.

10  APPEALS AND EXTENSIONS

• If a Scout believes he has completed all requirements for the Eagle Scout rank but is denied a board of review, he may request a board of review under disputed circumstances in accordance
• with Guide to Advancement topic 8.0.3.2.
• If the board of review does not approve the Scout’s advancement, the decision may be appealed in accordance with Guide to Advancement topic 8.0.4.0.
• If a Scout foresees that, due to no fault or choice of his own, he will be unable to complete the Eagle Scout rank requirements before age 18, he may apply for a limited time extension in accordance with Guide to Advancement topic 9.0.4.0. Time extensions are rarely granted.

AGE REQUIREMENT ELIGIBILITY

Merit badges, badges of rank, and Eagle Palms may be earned by a registered Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, or a qualified Venturer or Sea Scout. He may earn these awards until his 18th birthday. Any Venturer or Sea Scout who achieved the First Class rank as a Boy Scout in a troop or Varsity Scout in a team may continue working toward the Star, Life, and Eagle Scout ranks and Eagle Palms.

An Eagle Scout board of review may occur, without special approval, within three months after the 18th birthday. Local councils must preapprove those held three to six months afterward. To initiate approval, the candidate, his parent or guardian, the unit leader, or a unit committee member attaches to the application a statement explaining the delay. Consult the Guide to

Advancement, topic 8.0.3.1, in the case where a board of review is to be conducted more than six months after a candidate’s 18th birthday. If you have a permanent physical or mental disability, or a disability expected to last more than two years or beyond age 18, you may become an Eagle Scout by qualifying for as many required merit badges as you can and qualifying for alternative merit badges for the rest. If you seek to become an Eagle Scout under this procedure, you must submit a special application to your local council service center. Your application must be approved by your council advancement committee before you can work on alternative merit badges.

A Scout or Venturer with a disability may also qualify to work toward rank advancement after he is 18 years of age if he meets the guidelines outlined in section 10 of the Guide to Advancement.

Thoughts on Eagle Service Projects

The first Eagle was awarded in 1911, and the requirements for the badge did not include a service project the next 54 years.

In 1965 the Eagle service project was introduced as a requirement “While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and carry out a service project helpful to your church or synagogue, school, or community.”

This requirement remained basically the same for 13 years until the phrase “give leadership to others” was added in 1978.

The next significant addition came 31 years later in 2009 when the requirement was re-worded-

“While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. (The project should benefit an organization other than Boy Scouting.) The project plan must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your Scoutmaster and troop committee, and the council or district before you start. You must use the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook, No. 512-927, in meeting this requirement.”

The complexities of the paper chase involved with a present-day Eagle project are legend, as are the various interventions of the various adults involved. I have had the pleasure of talking to many Eagle Scout candidates in the last 30+ years. One question I ask them is what they truly enjoyed about the process, and what they would rather not repeat. It comes as no surprise that most, if not all, would rather not repeat the paper chase involved in the project.

I don’t think that this reflection is based solely on a dislike of paper work, but on the messages implied in the process. Before my critique goes any further, I should state very clearly, that I think the element of service in the requirements is a vital part of earning Eagle, and that Eagle projects are important.

As I noted above service involved in earning Eagle began as a very open-ended idea, with an open-ended standard of evaluation. Over time I have observed a growing trend to compartmentalize, and institutionalize the lively idea of service to others. This trend is not limited to Scouting, most high School students are also required to complete some sort of formal community service as a requirement for graduation.

I sometimes wonder if we are turning service projects into products, and if this transformation risks losing the understanding of service as an enduring aspect of character.

As the controls on and definitions of projects have ratcheted down over the past two or three decades what Scouters kvetch about has remained constant. Around thousands of campfires, or in yet another group of Scouters, in yet another parking lot, after yet another meeting; if the discussion turns to Eagle projects this is usually what’s  discussed:

• Concerns about the interference of parents and various other adults in the process.
• Concerns over a lack of adult involvement and oversight.
• Concerns about candidates doing the ‘bare minimum’.
• Concerns about candidates taking on too much.
• Concerns over Scouts who are too young and immature.
• Concerns over Scouts who are too old and mature ( i.e. too close to their eighteenth birthday, and distracted with other oursuits).
• Concerns that Scouts are earning Eagle just to put it on a college application.
• Concerns that Scouts who are not earning Eagle don’t understand how important it is on a college application.

We seem to be in search of the non-existent “Goldilocks” Eagle, not to cold, not too hot, but just right.

Creating standards of measurement or procedure for anything inherently human is a two-edged sword. On the one hand standards lessen aberrations from the mean, and procedure organizes complexity. On the other hand an external standard imposed on a couple of million Scouts nation-wide is going to be either inadequate or over-reaching, and will require a book full of possible caveats in response to the variety of individuals involved. Procedures based on these standards are useful, but seldom universally adaptable.

Then there’s  human nature. Presented with rules and regulations few of us (myself included) are going to decide that we will surpass them. In fact the contrary is more often the case, we will do as little as possible to meet them- that is the definition of a standard, isn’t it?

Given all the standards and procedures that have grown around the Eagle project the final evaluation at a board of review remains subjective rather than objective. Eagle Scouts are individuals in their developmental years, not a consistent product rolling off an assembly line.

So what’s the point?

If the outcome of an Eagle project is just hours to quantify we are doing a great job. If the point is developing the kind of character leading to a life of service to others, we are kind of hit or miss.

Yes, I am caught in a bit of a pickle here – the subjective nature of what I am asking makes an objective answer impossible.

What’s my solution? Would I throw out the whole process with its many rules, regulations and procedures? To tell you the truth I don’t know how I’d replace the current process, or if it needs replacing. What I can do is encourage us all to constantly remind ourselves that Scouting has a scale, and that scale is the individual. When we attempt to commodify or define an individual aim or think we can standardize it for millions we step away from that scale.

If, like me, you feel uncomfortable about the Eagle Scout project the likely reason is that it there’s basic incongruence in attempting to define, standardize, and measure objectively something that can only be measured individually. Benchmarks and measurements are very handy for evaluating uniform products on an assembly line, but they fall flat in measuring the character of an individual.

My concern is that our current approach to the Eagle project tends to obscure something simple, we are aimed at developing the character of individuals. We have to look beyond a sheaf of papers to find evidence we’ve achieved the aim of developing a sense of service to others. We’ll have to sit down and ask an individual Scout some questions, and listen carefully to how they respond, we’ll have to have a conversation. We’ll need to get them to tell us whether or not, when they look into their own heart and mind, we’ve achieved our aim.

That’s one thing that hasn’t changed, and never will.

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