Soaring Like an Eagle--The Eagle Rank Application--Part One

...more hints on how to attain your Eagle Rank in a timely fashion and not make your mom (or anyone else) think you're a turkey









Little known secret:  there is a checklist utilized by the Eagle-Powers-That-Be in ascertaining whether or not you have crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's.

Here for the first time is a short version of that list:
(you didn't think I was going to give you the whole list did you?  you did?? Now you're acting like a turkey...and just so you know, I am not going to hand everything to you on a *turkey* platter)

~Make sure you keep records of the dates when you received various ranks in Boy Scouts.
Dates of the following ranks are especially important:
Scout
First Class                                        
Star
Life


~There must be at least four months between the time you earned your First Class rank and your Star rank.***

~There must be at least six months between the time you earned your Star rank and your Life rank.***

~There must be at least six months between the time you earned your Life rank and your Eagle rank Board of Review which MUST BE prior to your 18th birthday.***

(note: your Eagle Rank Final Board of Review--the conference at the District office when you will have handed in all your paper work and have your final BOR to report on how everything went, answer the questions the committee will have for you and then it will be decided whether or not to grant you the rank of Eagle--can be scheduled for sometime in the three months following your 18th birthday but I highly DO NOT recommend this) (everything else--the Eagle project, the scoutmaster conference, the leadership roles and all required merit badges MUST BE COMPLETED before your 18th birthday)

***You don't have to personally worry about these details--at least in our council/district--I don't know if this is true for other councils--but our council will NOT let your advancement chairperson award your ranks if the time limits are not honored.

~We all know that you must have earned at least 21 Merit badges and you must have records of when each one was earned--month, day, year.  There are 12 required badges and the remaining 9 are badges of your choice.

But did you know:
~Four of those badges must have been earned prior to Star rank and Three prior to Eagle (I assume this means during the time between Star and Eagle)
~No merit badges can be earned prior to joining the troop (for those who have moved from one troop to another, I suppose) (because how can you earn merit badges if you are not a Boy Scout?)

~You must have served at least six months in a leadership position in the troop between getting your Life rank and your final Eagle rank Board of Review (or your 18th birthday--you cannot hold any leadership positions in the troop after your birthday. Or even on the day of your birth. They mean this)

Some of the eligible leadership roles:
Patrol Leader
Assistant Senior Patrol Leader
Senior Patrol Leader
Troop Guide
Order of the Arrow Troop Representative
Den Chief
Scribe
Librarian
Historian
Quartermaster
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Chaplain Aide
Webmaster
Leave No Trace Trainer

                                                           ...to be continued...