Advancement Handbook October 11, 2004

Two Types of Advancement

• Rank Advancement – Specific requirements all scouts must complete to move to the next rank

• Merit Badges – Requirements for 117 merit badges are badge specific – a scout chooses which badges he wants to work on

Rank Advancement

Scout

Tenderfoot

Second Class

First Class

Star

Life

Eagle

Eagle Palms

Merit Badges

• Elective (102 total; 9 required for Eagle) in the areas of:– Scoutcraft– Outdoors (Nature-related)– Recreational Activities– Career Options– Fine Arts– Hobbies

• Eagle Required (12)– Camping– Citizenship in the Community– Citizenship in the Nation– Citizenship in the World– Communications– Emergency Preparedness or

Lifesaving (Pick 1)– Environmental Science– Family Life– First Aid– Personal Fitness– Personal Management– Swimming or Cycling or Hiking

(Pick 1)

After Eagle requirements are fulfilled, additional Merit Badges count towards Eagle Palms.

Rank Advancement Signoffs: Scout to First Class

• You can work on Tenderfoot to First Class all at the same time (you don’t have to be a Tenderfoot to work on 2nd and 1st Class)

• Review the requirements for all ranks often! Many activities the troop has (for example, a camping trip) can fulfill one or more requirements.

• As you complete requirements, have an Assistant Scoutmaster (ASM) or senior scout* sign and date the item in (the back of) your scout handbook. Then (if possible at the same meeting), take your scout handbook to the advancement chair so that progress can be logged in the troop records

• When you have completed all the requirements for a rank except your Scoutmaster Conference and Board of Review, contact troop leaders before the next meeting you plan to attend and let them know you need a SC and BOR. That way, they can arrange to have enough adults there to help you complete the last requirements for your rank!

• Always see the Advancement Chair to log your new rank after you have completed your BOR. Otherwise, you might not be recognized at the next Court of Honor (COH)!

* A senior scout is defined as: Star rank or above, Troop Guide, Senior Patrol Leader, or Assistant Senior Patrol Leader

Rank Advancement Signoffs Star/Life/Eagle/Palms

• Only ASMs can sign off your service and leadership requirements

• Log your Merit Badges in your scout handbook as you earn them

• When you have completed all the requirements for a rank except your Scoutmaster Conference and Board of Review, contact troop leaders before the next meeting you plan to attend and let them know you need a SC and BOR. That way, they can arrange to have enough adults there to help you complete the last requirements for your rank!

• Always see the Advancement Chair to log your new rank after you have completed your BOR. Otherwise, you might not be recognized at the next Court of Honor (COH)!

• Life Scouts will receive personal guidance regarding additional steps they must take to earn the highest rank in scouting

Merit Badge Overview

ChooseMerit

Badge

MBCounselor

Badge Signoff

Individualrequirements

signoffs

MBCounselor Info

ScoutmasterBadgeSignoff

Get Blue Card

Your InfoOn Blue Card

Find MBCounselor

Work onrequirements

1.

8.7.6.

5.4.3.2.

Court of HonorMB

Presentation

Log BadgeAdvancement

Chair

11.10.

9.

Merit Badges

Step 1: Choose a merit badge you would like to work on

Step 2: Obtain a blue card from the Advancement Chair or an ASM

Blue Card Front

Blue Card Back

The blue card looks like this:

Merit BadgesStep 3: Complete your personal information on the front and back of the card.

Use Ink, not a pencil!

a. Your name and address

b. Check the “Boy Scout” box

c. This is Troop 841

d. Milton District

e. Atlanta Area Council

f Your name

g. Troop 841

h. The name of the Merit Badge

Merit BadgesYour Blue card should now look like this:

Merit BadgesStep 4: Find out from the Advancement Chair who the merit Badge counselor(s) is/are for that badge. Also, the troop website has a list of Merit Badge Counselors at:

www.troop841.com

Step 5: Find a Merit Badge Counselor who will advise you, and fill in information about the counselor. Get him/her to indicate date badge started on the front of the card.

The back of your Blue Card should now look like this.

Merit BadgesStep 6: Begin working on your merit badge

Step 7: As requirements are completed, have the Merit Badge Counselor indicate completed requirements on the middle section of the front of the blue card

Repeat steps 6 & 7 until all requirements are complete

Blue Card Front

MB Counselor notes date MB started (Step 5)

Completed requirements signed off

Merit BadgesStep 8: When all

requirements are complete, have the Merit Badge Counselor sign and date the back of your Blue Card

Step 9: Have the Scoutmaster sign both the front and the back of your Blue Card

Blue C

ard Front

Blue Card Back

Merit BadgesStep 10: Give your completed card to the advancement chair. (S)he will

log the information into the troop’s records

Step 11: Enjoy being recognized at the next Court of Honor!

Things to Remember:• Cutoff date for Court Of Honor (COH) recognition is 2 Mondays

before the COH. Make sure you log your rank advancements and merit badges with the Advancement Chair by the announced date. All items logged after that date will not be awarded until the next COH.

• [Note: the date the award was achieved is still the effective date – so if you earned First Class a day before the COH, that is the start date for working on the Star rank, NOT the date of the next COH.]

• All merit badges started at summer camp must be completed within one year of the end of summer camp with the exception of Camping, Backpacking, Hiking, and Cycling, or at the discretion of the Merit Badge Counselor. The scout may be quizzed by the Merit Badge Counselor to demonstrate knowledge of subject matter.

• Similarly, All merit badges started at NESA must be completed within one year of the date of the NESA session with the exception of Camping.

• For (mostly Eagle) badges that require a 12 week or three month period of measuring, monitoring or recording, if an interruption of more than 3 weeks occurs, the time period must be restarted.