Rank Advancement in Troop 542
For First Year Scouts — Four Ranks in Four Calendar Quarters
- Understand the Goal – Our program for first year Scouts is set up so that boys who join in March or April, earn Boy Scout in the spring, Tenderfoot in the fall, Second Class in the winter, and First Class the following spring.
- Send Your Son to Meetings – We work on indoor requirements every week. Try to get your son to most of our meetings. If he misses one, find out what requirement we worked on, and make sure he makes it up.
- Send Your Son on Camp outs – We work on outdoor requirements on camping trips. If your son misses a trip, make sure he knows what he missed, and help him remember to make it up the next time.
- Send Your Son to Other Activities – Second Class and First Class have requirements for boys to attend activities other than meetings. It’s five for Second Class requirement 3a, and five more for a total of ten for First Class requirement 3. If you add up the major activities, highway cleanups, service projects etc. you’ll find about 40 activities available in the time your son needs to attend 10 of them. Make sure he’s aware of these requirements and goes on enough activities to meet them.
For the Higher Ranks of Star, Life and Eagle
The requirements for Star, Life, and Eagle all follow a similar pattern which includes the following basic categories:
- Scout Spirit: – Scouts must live up to the ideals of scouting as expressed in the Scout Oath, Law, Slogan, Motto, and the Outdoor Code
- Participation: – Scouts must be active in their Troop and Patrol for a specified period of time. The requirement does not define “active”, so our review boards use the following guidelines:
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- Star and Life: 75% attendance of meetings and 50% of monthly trips
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- Eagle: 75% of meetings and 67% of monthly trips
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- Leave of Absence: Scouts can take a leave for a period of time while they’re engaged in other activities. That time won’t count toward the participation requirement, but absences during that time won’t count either
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- While these are only guidelines, and not rigidly enforced, a Scout will not be approved for advancement if the Troop leadership believes he has not been sufficiently active
- Skills: Scouts meet the skills requirement by earning merit badges. They must earn six for Star, five more for Life bringing their total to eleven, and ten more for Eagle so that they have twenty-one in all
- Leadership: All three of these ranks require the Scout to serve actively in a leadership position within the troop
- Service: For Star and Life Scouts must give a certain number of hours in service to others. For Eagle, Scouts must organize and lead a service project
Life to Eagle: By far the most difficult rank advancement is the jump from Life to Eagle. Once a Scout reaches the Life rank, he and a parent should schedule a meeting with the Troop Leadership to review the Life to Eagle process. A document describing the process, as well as all the forms needed to conduct the service project and apply for the Eagle rank, can be found in the Life to Eagle Process page.