Eagles by the Dozen

As I mentioned earlier, the highest rank a boy can achieve in Scouting is Eagle. This award can take from 2 to 6 years to accomplish. While the ratio of boys who join the Boy Scouts and achieve Eagle is about 5-7 percent, in Dad’s troops, those that ratio seemed much higher. It is likely that in his 16 years as Scoutmaster Dad has lost the exact count of those who achieved this rank under his leadership, none of us will ever forget the day he had 12 Eagles at one Court of Honor.

The Trail to Eagle

As I mentioned in a previous post, Dad never had advancement through the rank of scouting as his prime motivating focus. But, it was still a focus. And advancement plays a vital role in the process of scouting.

When a boy first enters the scout program he must earn the rank of Tenderfoot. This rank is designed to introduce a young 12 year-old boy into the culture of Scouting. He needs to learn the Scout Law, Scout Oath, Scout Motto, and the purpose behind Scouting. This rank is rather simple to obtain but helps cement the boy into the program with the sense of achievement.