Rank Advancement

Several questions surfaced about rank advancement at the Troop Committee meeting..

What exactly does it take to advance?

Advancement in the BSA is based on the requirements in the BSA Boy Scout Handbook.....If an older Scout and is not working out of the 2009 printing...he needs to get a copy as soon as possible.

Pages 432-443 list the requirements. Pages 444-447 are log sheets to record his activities.

1. All of the advancement requirements for Tenderfoot are normally met at summer camp with the Troop. At camp he will also earn nearlyall of his Second Class and First Class requirements, less those activities he must undertake during campouts, meetings, and other activities. If he fails to attend summer camp, he will have to pick up the requirements through the year on camp-out and other activities.

As he completes the requirements of each rank, and each requirement is signed off by a Leader, but not his parent (unless the parent is passing off other Scouts simultaneously as the counselor/instructor), he should ask the Scoutmaster for a Scoutmaster's Conference in order to assure the requirements are met and the Scout is on track with the program.

Once he completes the SM Conference, and signed off in the book, he will ask the Advancement Chairman for a Board of Review, which as a group of two -three Leaders, will again assure the requirements are met, and signed off, that the Scout is on track, and any problems he may be having can be heard and resolved. The Board passes the review on to the Advancement Chairman, who assures the work is officially recorded in the Troop, the District, the Council as a permanent record.

Normally, a Scout in this Troop is expected to earn theFirst Class rank, afterhe completes summer camp, by March or April of the next year, depending upon his completion of the required ten Scout/Troop activities. As he continues in gaining rank, he will need to keep the Handbook completed in all detail, as the Handbook will be reviewed by the District Eagle Board at the time he is interviewed for the rank of Eagle.

2. A second phase of earning rank, starts as a Second Class Scout, when he is required to earn merit badges. He will earn four to five at his first summer camp w/the Troop. After the first summer camp, he is essentially on his own to pick up the total of 21 badges required for Eagle..a portion of which are Eagle required.

To earn the badge, he has to contact a Troop merit badger counselor as listed on the Troop Web site, or attend merit badge days, often sponsored by Disticts and Councils. These are usually advertised through the Troop or on web sites such as the Greater Alabama Council's Digital Eagle. A merit badge counselor is required to take annual training, given by the District or the Council. A Scout should seek out leaders other than his parent as a counselor, unless the parent is counseling other boys simultaneously in a group setting.

Before he speaks to a counselor, the Scout should get a "blue card" from the Scoutmaster, who once signed returns it to the Scout to work with the Counselor for the requirements..Once finalized by the Scout and the Counselor, the portion of the card designated for the Advancement Chair is turned it to become part of his permanent record.

3. The third requirement of advancement is "Scouting Spirit," or his advancement in rank through participating in Scout related service activities as outlined in the Scout Handbook. The idea is that he cannot earn his Eagle through correspondence courses, but is required to be active in the Troop by attending meetings, Troop activities other than campouts, monthly campouts, performing in the role of a leader within the patrol and within the Troop, fulfilling behavior included in being a team member. In summary aspects of Scout spirit which include anything addressed in the Scout Handbook, including wearing of the uniform, conforming to the tenets of the Scout Oath, the Scout Law, the Scout Slogan, and the Scout Motto and the Outdoor Code.

Our purpose as leaders is to assure the young Scout has the opportunity to earn the Eagle rank, to have fun and adventure, learn leadership and how to be team member, experience service to the community, and become a better person in meeting the needs of his family, his community, and his overall citizenship in the world.

With a troop the size we are, it takes a great deal of dedicated, trained leaders to make the program work. Each leader wishing to assist should register as a leader, immediately take the BSA Youth Protection Course (available on line), the Fast Start Course (available on line), and the merit badge counselor course (given annually by the District), then plan on taking the Scoutmaster Leadership Training Course (SMLT) and companion course, the Outdoor Leadership Course (OLS) offered by the District twice each year.

Your personal goal should be to monitor his Scout Handbook to assure he is getting checked off, staying abreast of and being active where possible in Troop activities, and as an active leader stay abreast of what his/your patrol is doing for their activities. If he getting behind, or is not what you think getting the most out the program, or has a problem, see the Scoutmaster other experienced leaders of guidance/assistance in keeping him on track.

He Should be achieving the rank of Life by the time he is 15 and should start thinking about an Eagle project as soon as possible to avoid the busy times he will be facing from all the directions he will be heading. Waiting until his 17th year for a project just places stress where it doesn't have to be.

There are three Eagle projects in back of the Scout Hut which will give him many ideas of what is possible in a short period of time without great expense.

There are few other successful organizations that excel as well as the Boy Scouts of America; there are few awards in life that are as gratifying and self fulfilling than the attainment of the Eagle rank as he begins writing resumes for job interviews, and through attainment of the rank will have a much greater chance of the interview or the selection compared to if he didn't.

It works..we just have to make sure it does. If he is life Scout and does not have a project in mind, he needs to go to: woodbadgeman.com to get himself oriented toward the requirements. There is a great deal of leader information here also. To stay abreast yourself, go to Scouting.org.

YiS Dan s

"Delivering the Promise"