Eagle Scout Rank Application Information

The Eagle Scout Rank Application (BSA Publication number 58-728A (most current printing) is the form used to submit a Scout for the rank of Eagle Scout.  The Eagle Scout Rank Application should be given to a Scout as soon as he earns his Life Scout rank, in conjunction with giving the Scout the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook (BSA Publication number 18-927, most current printing).  The following information and techniques are things I have garnered over time that will help in the processing of the Scout’s Eagle Scout Rank Application.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about the information provided herewithin, please contact Mary Snell at snellj2m@aol.com

First and foremost, fill out this application completely and correctly.  Anything and everything that is documented on this application will be checked by the Council Service Center, verified and certified as correct.  For entries that pertain to other Councils, those Councils will be contacted and the information verified through them also.  If there is a discrepancy between what is entered on this application and what is on record at a Council Service Center, the application will be returned to the unit for correction.

In preparation for filling out the application, gather together all pertinent personally held records.  Locate all unit issued merit badge cards and rank cards that the Scout received at Courts of Honor.  These are documents that should have been saved and kept in a safe place since “Day One” that the boy joined Scouts.

For those documents that are not personally on hand, contact the registered adult who is responsible for unit record-keeping.  The unit should have copies of all advancement reports submitted to the Council Service Center.  In some units there may also be an electronic record of each Scout.

In addition to the biographical information on the top part of the application, there are six (6) Eagle Scout requirements that have to be documented on the application.  Except in extremely rare and extenuating circumstances, all the following 6 Eagle requirements MUST take place BEFORE the Scout’s 18th birthday.

Requirement 1 – Enter the date of the applicant’s Life Scout Board of Review.

Requirement 2 – List the names, addresses and phone numbers of people who have personal knowledge of the Scout and who would be willing to provide a recommendation to the Eagle Board of Review.  Each individual listed (other than the parents) will receive a confidential questionnaire/recommendation form from the Council Service Center, along with a pre-paid envelope addressed to the Scoutmaster in which to return the completed questionnaire/recommendation form.  It is imperative to let these people know they will be getting the questionnaire/recommendation form, and to encourage them to fill it out and return it in the enclosed pre-paid envelope as soon as possible.  The Scout can NOT have an Eagle Board of Review until at least three (3) of these questionnaire/recommendation forms are back in the hands of the Scoutmaster.

Scoutmasters, please note!!!  These questionnaire/recommendation forms are confidential and should not be opened by anyone other than the Eagle Board of Review members.  Pass them, unopened, to the Board Chairman.  Once the Board is done with the questionnaire / recommendation forms, they will dispose of them in an appropriate manner that maintains the confidentiality of the respondents.

Requirement 3 – Listing the 21 merit badges.  Think long and hard about what merit badges to document here.  The 12 required merit badges are mandatory and self-explanatory.  For those Eagle-required merit badges where the Scout had to select from several acceptable ones, “XXXX” out the merit badge(s) he is not using to fulfill that particular Eagle-required merit badge requirement (i.e., entry number 9 allows the Scout to use either Cycling, Hiking, or Swimming merit badge to fulfill that requirement.  If the Scout had earned any or all three of these badges and chose to use Cycling merit badge, then he would physically type “X’s” over the words “or Hiking or Swimming”).  The remaining 9 merit badges are of the Scout’s choosing, selected from the ones he has earned.  These can include any of the Eagle-required merit badges he earned but crossed out because he used another Eagle-required merit badge to satisfy that requirement.  Any additional 9 merit badges fulfill this requirement.  If the Scout only has 9 additional merit badges from which to pick, then the exercise is academic.  However, from my District Eagle Advisor point of view the Scout should list those merit badges that represent a well-rounded Scout.  If the Scout has more then 9 merit badges (over and above the 12 required for Eagle), he should pick those that are representative of his entire Scouting career.  As a District Eagle Advisor I will use those merit badges that are listed to help form an opinion of what type activities the Scout participated in and what he got out of his Scouting experience.

I recommend that a copy be made of all the unit issued merit badge cards, as well as the rank cards that the Scout received at Courts of Honor and that are used as supporting documentation to this Eagle Scout Rank Application.  A good way to do this is to place the merit badge cards in commercially available clear plastic baseball card holders, in the order they are listed on the Eagle Scout Rank Application, and copy them in that manner.  It will take two or three sheets of the clear plastic baseball card holders to hold all the merit badge cards.  Do the same for all the rank cards.  Providing these copies as support documentation will assist the Council Service Center in verifying the information on the Eagle Scout Rank Application and may speed up the processing time.

Requirement 4 – Leadership positions held for six months or more while a Life Scout.  If the Scout held a single leadership position for six months or more while a Life Scout, then only that position needs to be documented on the application.  If the Scout held several leadership positions as a Life Scout, it is preferable to document the one that had the most leadership responsibility.  If the Scout held several leadership positions while a Life Scout, but none were for a minimum six-month period, then the time spent in more than one leadership position can be combined to achieve the six-month requirement.  Again, it is preferable to list those positions that had the most leadership responsibility associated with them.  Listing those leadership positions that exemplify “higher level” leadership gives the Eagle application reviewer a more accurate gage of the Scout’s true leadership abilities and potential.

Requirement 5 – The Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project.  Enter the completion date that you finished the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project.  This completion date should be the same as the one in the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook.

Requirement 6 – This requirement has two parts.  Part One is 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 you received during this service.  Typically this should be a typed, one-page paper and cover all the things listed in this requirement's instructions.  Part Two is the Scoutmaster’s Conference.  This conference can be held ONLY after all the above Eagle Scout Rank Application requirements have been met.  Enter the date the Scoutmaster’s Conference was held and successfully passed by the Scout.

When the 6 Eagle Scout requirements are completed and documented on the Eagle Scout Rank Application, the Scout signs and dates the application form.

After the Scout signs and dates the Eagle Scout Rank Application, both the Unit Leader (usually the Scoutmaster) and the Unit Committee Chair sign and date the application.

When these 3 signatures (Scout, Unit Leader and Unit Committee Chair) are obtained, an Eagle Scout package is ready to be sent to the Council Service Center.  This package should consist of:

• The original Eagle Scout Rank Application

• The original Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook (I also recommend an additional copy of the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook be sent along to preclude the Council Service Center from having to make their own copy.  This is especially relevant if there are color pictures in the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook)

• The Statement of Ambitions, etc.

• The copies of the listed merit badges and rank badges

It is STRONGLY recommended that copies be made and retained of EVERYTHING sent to the Council Service Center!  It is also recommended that the entire package be hand-carried to the Council Service Center and placed in the hands of the Council Service Center’s advancement person.

The Council Service Center will review, verify and certify the information on the Eagle Scout Rank Application, and then sign the application form.  They will make a copy of the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook (if a copy has not already been provided for their records) and keep it with a copy of the Eagle Scout Rank Application.  The Council Service Center will return the original Eagle Scout Rank Application and the original Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook to the Scoutmaster.  The Council Service Center will also send out the confidential questionnaire/recommendation forms to the individuals listed on the application, with instructions to return the forms to the Scoutmaster in the enclosed prepaid envelope.

The Scoutmaster returns the original Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook to the Scout.  This is now the Scout’s to keep.  He will, however, need to make sufficient copies of the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook to provide each member of his Eagle Board of Review with a copy.  I recommend a color copy be given to the Eagle Board of Review Chair; black and white copies should suffice for the other Board members.

After the Scoutmaster gets three (3) of the confidential questionnaire/recommendation forms back, an Eagle Board of Review can be convened.  The Board of Review for an Eagle candidate is composed of at least three (3) but not more than six (6) members, 21-years of age or older.  The Board of Review for an Eagle candidate is usually made up of those individuals within the unit who normally sit on the unit’s Boards of Review.  One member serves as chairman.  Unit leaders, assistant unit leaders, relatives, or guardians may not serve as members of a Scout's Board of Review.  At least one District or Council Advancement representative MUST be on the Eagle Scout Board.  A council or district may designate more than one person to serve as a member of Eagle Boards of Review when requested to do so by the unit.  It is not required that these persons be members of the advancement committee; however, they must have an understanding of the importance of the Eagle Board of Review.  The Board of Review members should convene at least 30 minutes before the candidate appears in order to review the application, reference checks, and the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project report.

During the Eagle Board of Review, the Scoutmaster presents – unopened - all the confidential questionnaire/recommendation forms he has received to the Board.  The Board members review these confidential questionnaire/recommendation forms and any additional comments made on the forms.  Once the Board is done with the questionnaire/recommendation forms, they will dispose of them in an appropriate manner that maintains the confidentiality of the respondents.

When the Eagle Scout candidate successfully passes his Eagle Board of Review, the Eagle Board of Review Chair and the District or Council Advancement representative both sign and date the original Eagle Scout Rank Application.  The Unit Advancement Chair initiates an advancement form and both the original Eagle Scout Rank Application and the unit advancement form are submitted to the Council Service Center.  I STRONGLY recommend copies be made of both of these documents before they are sent to the Council Service Center.  The Council Service Center will match the Eagle Scout Rank Application with the copy of the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook, have the Council Scout Executive sign the Eagle Scout Rank Application, and forward all required paperwork to BSA’s National Headquarters.  It usually takes between 4 -6 weeks before the National Headquarters responds.

When the National Headquarters approves the Eagle Scout Rank Application, the Council Service Center will notify the Scoutmaster to have someone personally pick up an Eagle Scout package.  A benefactor within the Gulf Coast Council provides the new Eagle Scout with the Eagle Scout Badge, the Eagle Scout cloth rank patch, and other Eagle Scout memorabilia.

At this point the Scout is an Eagle Scout, with his date of Eagle Scout rank the date of his Eagle Scout Board of Review.  Formal recognition of the Eagle Scout should be at an Eagle Scout Court of Honor.

To open and view or save the above information as a PowerPoint file (Eagle Scout Rank Application.ppt)