Scouts BSA Troop 457 > FAQs

What is a Blue Card?

The “Blue Card” is a two-sided, tri-section document that is formally known as The Application For Merit Badge.  It is an official Boy Scout of America document that serves as a record of progress toward completion of a merit badge.  The Blue Card is the first thing you need when you decide you would like to earn a merit badge.  Blue Cards will be available at every Troop meeting and Scouts are encouraged to keep a few extra blue cards in their Scout Handbook or notebook so they always have one available.

In the 2021 Guide to Advancement (section 7.0.0.2), Units are being encouraged to use other innovations such as Scoutbook or computer-generated spreadsheets to track advancement.  The Troop and Moraine Trails Council are expected to accept these alternative forms of documentation as long as the documentation provides the information necessary to track and record the Scout’s progress.

RETAIN DOCUMENTATION
It is the Scout’s responsibility to retain adequate documentation to demonstrate completion of their merit badge. Scouts may be asked to provide this documentation during a Scoutmaster Conference or a Board of Review.

Can rank or merit badge requirements be added, removed, or changed from those documented in the Scouts BSA Handbook or Merit Badge pamphlet?

Per the BSA’s Guide to Advancement:

No council, committee, district, unit, or individual has the authority to add to or subtract from advancement requirements.Guide to Advancement section 5.0.1.3

That means that Leaders and Merit Badge Counselors are not permitted to add to, modify, or remove from the approved list of merit badge or rank requirements as published by the BSA. Some limited exceptions are permitted for Scouts with special needs.

REMEMBER:  Advancement requirements must be passed as written. For example, if a requirement uses words like “show,” “demonstrate,” or “discuss,” then the leader / counselor should expect that the Scout show, demonstrate or discuss the requirement and would be appropriate if they rejected a completed worksheet as proof that the requirement had been completed.  (Guide to Advancement 4.2.0.1)

Scouts should immediately inform the Scoutmaster, Troop Committee, or Council representative if leader or Merit Badge counselor takes any action that conflicts with the Guide to Advancement.

Who can sign-off on merit badge requirements?

Merit Badge requirements may only be signed-off by a Merit Badge Counselor who has been registered with the Council for that Merit Badge.

Only adults of good character, age 18 or older, are approved to register as merit badge counselors. Merit badge counselors are expected to have the necessary skills and education to offer quality experiences in the badges they counsel. The intent is for Scouts to learn from those with an appropriate level of expertise.

It is important too, that potential counselors have a good rapport with unit leaders and Scout-age youth.

Instructions for registering as a Merit Badge Counselor can be found HERE.

 

What are the required merit badges?

As of July 2022, a Scout must earn at least 14 of the following 18 “required” merit badges in order to become an Eagle Scout:

  1. First Aid
  2. Citizenship in the Community
  3. Citizenship in the Nation
  4. Citizenship in the World
  5. Citizenship in Society (new in July 2022)
  6. Communication
  7. Cooking
  8. Personal Fitness
  9. Emergency Preparedness OR Lifesaving
  10. Environmental Science OR Sustainability
  11. Personal Management
  12. Swimming OR Hiking OR Cycling
  13. Camping
  14. Family Life

In situations where there are multiple “required” merit badge options (i.e., 9, 10, 12 above), only one of the merit badges counts towards the 14 required merit badges.  Any of the other merit badges would then count towards the nine additional merit badges needed to become an Eagle Scout.  For example, if a Scout earns the Swimming, Hiking, and Cycling merit badges, one of those merit badges would count toward the 14 required merit badges and the other 2 would count towards the 9 other merit badges.

Do I need to earn a rank before I can start working on the next rank’s requirements?

Individual ranks must be earned sequentially (you must earn the Scout Rank before earning Tenderfoot, Tenderfoot before Second Class, etc.)  However requirements may be worked on concurrently unless otherwise stated by the requirements.

Scout, Tenderfoot, Second and First Class rank requirements can be worked on at the same time except for the Scoutmaster Conference and Board or Review requirements.  The Scoutmaster Conference and Board of Review requirements must be completed after earning the previous rank.  It is possible to have completed the non Scoutmaster Conference and Board of Review requirements for the Second and First Class ranks but be unable to earn the ranks if a Tenderfoot requirement has not yet been completed.

Rank requirements for Star, Life and Eagle Scout must be completed after earning the previous rank.  The exception to this rule are the merit badge requirements.  Scouts may begin working on merit badges as soon as they join Scouts BSA and merit badges are applied to the rank requirements regardless of when they were earned.

Where can I find the latest requirements for a merit badge?

The list of of all merit badges and their requirements can be found in the Scouts BSA Requirements book on Scouting.org.  This is the BSA’s official repository for the most current requirements and supersedes any requirements included in the published merit badge pamphlets.

If a new edition of a merit badge pamphlet is introduced with updated requirements after the Scouts BSA Requirements book has been released, a Scout who is starting the badge may choose to follow either set of requirements until the end of the year. At the start of the new year, Scouts who are beginning must use only the new requirements.

If a Scout has already started working on a merit badge when a new edition of the pamphlet is introduced, they may continue to use the same pamphlet and fulfill the requirements therein to earn the badge. They need not start over again with the new pamphlet and revised requirements.

How long do I have to complete a rank?

In Scouts BSA, there is only one set time requirement for earning Ranks.  Any Scout wishing to become an Eagle Scout must complete all requirements (except the Eagle Scout Board of Review) by their 18th birthday.  All other ranks can be earned at the Scout’s own pace.

Keep in mind that several ranks have requirements that include a minimum amount of time to complete.  These include:

  • Tenderfoot Requirements 6b and 6c (30 days)
  • Second Class Requirement 7a (4 weeks)
  • First Class Requirement 8a (4 weeks)
  • Star Requirements 1 and 5 (4 months)
  • Life Requirements 1 and 5 (6 months)
  • Eagle Requirements 1 and 4 (6 months)

Many ranks also include requirements to participate in a specific number of Service Hours and Troop activities (including outdoor activities).  These could add to the time needed to complete each rank based on the Troop’s schedule and Scout’s participation in these activities.

Finally, required and non-required merit badges must be earned for the Star, Life, and Eagle ranks.  Some merit badges include requirements that must be completed for a specific period of time.  (For example, Personal Fitness includes a requirement to develop and follow a 12 week fitness program.  Family Life includes a requirement for the Scout to list home duties and chores and show that they have been completed over 90 days.)

What is a Merit Badge?

Merit badges are awarded to Scouts who complete additional requirements related to a specific topic.  There are over 130 merit badges that cover many different topics from camping and first aid to robotics and game design.

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