Although most frequently, letters are requested for new Eagle Scouts, the list below can and should be used when requesting letters of commendation for Venturers who have earned the Summit Award, and for Sea Scouts who have earned the Quartermaster Rank, and for Girl Scouts who have earned the GSUSA Gold Award. When sending letters for those awards, please in your explanation, don't include phrases like "The Summit Award is the Venturing version of Eagle" or "Quartermaster is the Sea Scout equivalent of Eagle" or "the Gold award is the Girl Scout version of Eagle Scout". Summit and Quartermaster, and the Gold Award are their own awards and what should be stressed are the skills and leadership experiences gained by earning them!
What information to include:
When sending notes to people asking for letters of commendation, please include:
- The Scout or Venturer's FULL NAME (not just "Sparky" or "Jimmy" but "Samuel James Jackson" or "James Ray Morrison")
- The UNIT NUMBER and COUNCIL NAME (the Unit number is that number on his left shoulder; the Council name appears on the patch right above it), and
- A SHORT DESCRIPTION of the Service Project led by and completed as a requirement for the award.
- It is also courteous to include a self addressed stamped envelope when writing to private individuals or organizations. That is usually not necessary when writing to government officials.
According to protocol professionals in the United States, The Honorable is a courtesy title used with the names of current and retired high-ranking federal and state officials and judges, and with some local officials, when introducing them, and when addressing correspondence to them. Furthermore, The Honorable is always used before a full name, and should NOT be shortened. nor should it be combined with other honorifics, ranks or titles in the USA.
So The Honorable (Full Name), (Office Held) would be correct while The Honorable Dr, (Full Name), (Office Held) , or Hon. Gen (Full Name), (Office Held) would both be incorrect, In the table of addresses below, we have not included the courtesy title, but you are encouraged to use it when you send letters to those individuals.
What your letter should discuss about the Scout:
Many people writing a letter to acknowledge an Eagle Scout, Quartermaster, or Gold or Summit recipient, would also like to know how the person earned the badge. But don't only discuss the Service Project. Give some information about the Scout and their activities. This provides information so the letter can include more than just a "congratulations, Johnny, on your achievement" line and also can allow the letter to be a bit more personalized than boilerplate letters.
Hal Daume served the USSSP as our "Resident Commissioner" for over 20 years. During that time, using the pen name "Andy McCommish", Hal prepared and published the "ASK ANDY" blog, with advice to Scouts, Scouters, and Scouting family members. Hal passed away in 2022, but the "Ask Andy" blog with his advice on hundreds of Scouting issues remains available. A "Final Column" written by a group of Hal's close friends and loyal Andy-readers can be seen at https://usscouts.org/askandy/finalcolumn.asp, and the entire blog can be found at http://netcommissioner.com/askandy/. A few years ago, when he got a request for a letter to a new Eagle Scout, he prepared the following response, and suggested it be added to this document.
I've just received another letter inviting me to a court of honor for your troop's newest Eagle Scout - the most recent in a string of several hundred in the past ten years alone. Your letter lauds this Scout's service project and gives great detail of all the work done. Inevitably, however, and like all others preceding it, the letter - except for time, date, and location - stops there. To the uninitiated, it would seem that attaining the rank of Eagle solely involves a community service project of some kind. To others, including myself, there's disappointment: It's as if the coffee-after-dessert is all I get; there's no mention of the preceding courses all of which have led up to this.
Where, I wonder, is a description of what this young man has learned about citizenship and his role in his community, nation, and the world at large. Will I not learn that he's now skilled in first aid and has the ability to save life on both land and in the water, or has developed and carried out a mobilization plan for his troop in an emergency situation? How many miles has he hiked and backpacked; how many camping trips has he taken, and where has he gone? How has he developed and honed his communication and leadership skills both among his peers who have elected him to lead, and how has he learned to be a responsible team member when called upon?
This young man has led his patrol and troop in significant ways for extended periods, yet I learn nothing of these roles. Nor do I learn how he has developed his physical and mental fitness in this preparation for his future life. Can he handle a canoe? A sailboat? Can he survive in the wilderness by himself - a skill few outside of Scouting know anything at all about? Does he know firearms safety? Has he grown as a member of his own family? Does he know how to protect himself and other youth, if necessary, from bullying and other forms of abuse? Can he manage money and a budget? What does he know of ecology and - today's buzzword - sustainability? What explorations into subjects only Scouts get to choose from has he made? Does he know what to do if confronted by a snake bite, or contact with a poisonous plant? Does he know the flora and fauna of the region he lives in? Has his service project developed not only his leadership skills but also his knowledge of project planning, including "sweating the details." How does he live the Scout Oath and Law in his daily life? What are his aspirations for his own future?
Tell me about his life beyond Scouting. What has he accomplished for himself scholastically and in team and individual sports? What of his religious life?
Has he been recommended for this rank by his teachers or principal, his employers, his religious mentor?
All of this and more ... absent. Instead of understanding the "whole" of this fine young man, I'm left with impressions of wood and gravel and plantings and such. There's no "three-dimensional image" of him here; he's done community service and that's all your letter tells me. Please tell me more. Please honor everything that this young man has accomplished for himself. Make that image "3D"!
How many letters to request:
Remember that the purpose of a congratulatory letter or certificate is to honor the Scout and that each person you write may be getting many, many requests. This is not a race or a contest to see who can get the most letters. Often a few letters are more meaningful than a scrapbook full of letters that ends up on a shelf. Sometimes the best thing is a letter or two from an admired prominent person, a state official like a governor, a local official like a mayor, and letters from local prominent people that the Scout knows or who know the Scout.
Please pick and choose so that people who are willing to write a letter do not get overwhelmed and decide to stop accepting requests.
A significant number of individuals and organizations have online request forms or provide email addresses, and will not respond to mailed requests. In some cases, (including President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, the U.S. Coastx Guard Commandant and the Marine Corps) the forms are then used by the recipient to prepare a response letter or a certificate . Others (including the National Park Service Youth Programs, NASA, and The US Navy Blue Angels) are designed to take the information from the form, and generate a certificate for you to print without any actual contact by the individual or group.
At the bottom of the list we have included a list of individuals and organizations that have made specific requests that requests NOT be sent to them. Please respond appropriately to their requests, and do not contact anyone on that list.
In the tables below, incumbents who are "Acting" or will be leaving office as a result of an election, resignation, or other reasons, are shown in RED, while "Elect" or newly appointed officials who are as yet unconfirmed or not yet installed are shown in GREEN.
The list below is, to our best knowledge, accurate as of NOVEMBER 15, 2023.Please forward comments, corrections, or additions
to:
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US Government OfficialsDue to security measures which can delay receipt of letters
sent through the US Mail, |
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President Joseph R. Biden. Jr. and Dr. Jill Biden |
Vice President Kamala Harris and Mr. Douglas Emhoff
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Cabinet Members and other Cabinet Level Officials
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Thomas J. Vilsack |
Gina M. Raimondo |
Lloyd J. Austin, III Requests should be sent to: Note: OATSD is an acronym for |
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Miguel Cardona |
Jennifer Granholm |
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Xavier Becerra |
Alejandro N. Mayorkas |
Marcia Fudge |
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Merrick Garland |
Anthony J. Blinken Requests should be made using the Online request form: |
Debra Haaland |
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Pete Buttigieg |
Janet L. Yellen |
Denis McDonough |
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Michael Regan |
Isabel Guzman |
Avril D. Haines |
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Jeff Zients |
Shalanda Young |
Katherine Tai |
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Dr. Arati Prabhakar, Director |
Cecilia Rouse |
Linda Thomas-Greenfield |
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Other Department of Defense Officials -
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Joint Staff |
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Gen. Charles Q. Brown |
Adm. Christopher W. Grady |
SEAC Ramón "CZ" Colón-López |
| Please include the full name of the scout,
Troop number, date of honor ceremony or date of or date acknowledged
for passing Eagle Scout or /Girl Scout Gold Award requirements and return
address. Return postage is not required. In order to expedite your request, please consolidate multiple awardees into one (1) troop request. Due to mail handling procedures, allow 4 - 5 weeks for processing. |
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Department of the Army |
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Christine Wormuth |
Gen. Randy A George |
The U.S. Army's Youth Certificate of Recognition program has been suspended. |
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Department of the Navy |
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Carlos Del Toro |
Adm. Lisa Franchetti |
Gen. Eric M. Smith Mailed requests are no longer accepted. |
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Please include the full name of the scout, Troop number, date of
Court of Honor ceremony and return address. |
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Department of the Air Force |
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Frank Kendall III |
Gen. David W. Allvin |
To receive a congratulatory certificate and letter from the US Air Force and the US Space Force, Click Here, then fill out and submit the form that they have provided. |
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CongressFor Congressional offices, due to security issues, mail to local offices will usually get a much faster response than mail sent to the Capitol or the House and Senate Office Buildings. |
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House of Representatives |
Senate |
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Mike Johnson Use https://www.speaker.gov/greeting/ to request an Eagle Scout letter from Speaker.McCarthy. |
Patty Murray |
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Steve Scalise |
Charles E. Schumer |
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Hakeem Jeffries |
Mitch McConnell |
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For other Representatives, __________ or simply address your letter to: ____________ There is no central listing of public e-mail addresses for
House members. |
For other Senators, Senator __________ or simply address your letter to: Senator ____________ e-mail addresses: Click Here |
Other Government Officials and Programs |
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Adm. Linda L. Fagan
The Coast Guard has asked that we send all future Eagle Scout and
Gold Award requests to ScoutRecognition@uscg.mil.
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Jay Clayton |
Mr. Christopher A. Wray, Director |
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National Park Service Youth Programs Please
click here to download the |
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United States Military Academy United States Naval Academy US Air Force Academy United States Coast Guard Academy Each of these Academies is apparently no longer able
to respond to requests for Certificates. |
Kings Point Eagle Scout Association The KPESA is an organization of midshipmen founded upon the principles and ideals of the BSA and the Eagle Scout Oath. The KPESA hosts an annual Camporee on the MMA campus. A certificate from the KPESA |
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| Vice Adm. Vivek Murthy, MD Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service Dept of Health and Human Services Rockville MD 20857 |
U.S. Postal
Service Certificates of Recognition The United States Postal Service has a recognition certificate for presentation to new Eagle Scouts. The certificate shows the USPS logo and the BSA logo, along with a reproduction of the 3¢ Boy Scouts of America commemorative stamp issued in 1950. To obtain a certificate, send your request, listing the name of the new Eagle Scout, to:
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Information Affairs Coordinator |
NASA |
The Blue Angels |
Past Presidents and Vice Presidents |
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President Barack H. Obama |
President William J. Clinton |
President George W. Bush |
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President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter The Carters are no longer able to personally respond to any requests.. |
President and Mrs. Donald J. Trump Requests can be made online, using the link below. |
Vice President Dan Quayle |
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Vice President Al Gore |
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| Vice President and Mrs. Mike Pence We have not been able to determine a mailing address for Mr. Pence, nor have we found a way to contact him online. |
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Governors |
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Gov. Kay Ivey |
Gov. Mike Dunleavy |
Gov Katie Hobbs |
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Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders |
Gov. Gavin Newsom Click here for instructions on how to request letters of recognition. |
Gov. Jared Polis |
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Gov. Ned Lamont |
Gov. John Carney |
Gov. Ron DeSantis |
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Gov. Brian Kemp |
Gov Josh Green |
Gov. Brad Little |
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker |
Gov. Eric Holcomb |
Gov. Kim Reynolds |
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Gov. Laura Kelly |
Gov. Andy Beshear |
Gov. John Bel Edwards |
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Gov. Janet T. Mills |
Gov. Wes Moore |
Gov. Maura Healey Requests should be made using the following web address: |
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer |
Gov. Tim Walz |
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Gov. Tate Reeves |
x
Gov. Michael L Parson |
Gov. Greg Gianforte |
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Gov. Jim Pillen |
Gov. Joe Lombardo |
Gov. Chris Sununu |
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Gov. Phil Murphy |
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham |
Kathy Hochul |
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Gov. Roy Cooper |
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Gov. Doug Burgum |
Gov. Richard Michael (Mike) DeWine |
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Gov. Kevin Stitt |
Gov. Tina Kotek |
Gov. Josh Shapiro |
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Gov. Dan McKee |
Gov. Henry McMaster |
Gov. Kristi L. Noem |
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Gov. Bill Lee |
Gov. Greg Abbott |
Gov. Spencer Cox |
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Gov. Phil Scott |
Gov. Glenn Youngkin |
Gov. Jay Inslee |
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Gov. Jim Justice |
Gov. Tony Evers |
Gov. Mark Gordon |
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Mayor Muriel Bowser Only District of Columbia residents will
be provided Eagle Scout letters |
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia |
Gov. Leon Guerrero |
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Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. |
Gov. Lemanu Peleti Mauga |
Gov. Ralph Torres |
Other Prominent People and Organizations |
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Sons of the American Revolution The SAR also presents the Arthur M. & Berdena King Eagle Scout Scholarship
awards. Three national-level scholarships are awarded: |
American Legion
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Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War The SUVCW requests 45 days advance notice |
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The Silver Star Families of America |
AMVETS National Headquarters |
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Marine Corps League See the information on obtaining a "Good Citizenship Award" Certificate at https://www.mcleaguelibrary.org/youth-programs/ |
United States Submarine Veterans, Inc. |
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary |
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Military Order of the World Wars |
East Tennessee State University |
East Carolina University Army ROTC program |
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Supreme Lodge |
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks |
International Order of St. George Applications and information can be obtained from: |
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Mr. Bill Gates |
Mr. Steven Spielberg |
Moose International |
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The Wendy’s Company |
Mr. Ramon Laguarta, CEO |
Mr. James Quincy, Chairman & CEO |
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The Hershey Company email: consumers@hersheys.com,
or call |
Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity APO has an certificate which can be downloaded, filled in, and printed at: https://apo.org/resources/online-scout-certificate-2/ |
Mr. William Clay Ford, Jr., Executive Chairman |
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Friends of Treasure Island See the information on how to request a recognition letter at https://www.friendsoftreasureisland.org/eagle-recognition-letters/ |
Stroud Enterprises Inc. (Survivorman) The cost to mail a letter from the USA to Canada
is: |
Chuck Norris See the information on https://chucknorris.com/#contact Note that the website includes the following statement: "Please consider a donation to Kickstart Kids in return for Mr. Norris’ recognition letters." |
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Nintendo |
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Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation |
Condoleezza Rice |
Veterans of Foreign Wars National Headquarters |
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National Rifle Association The NRA requests 1 month advance notice |
Mike Rowe (star of
Dirty Jobs) no longer sends personalized copies of his letter,
Click here for details). |
The Lions Clubs' Scouting Recognition
program is being phased out. |
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Click here to see other Special Eagle Scout Recognitions that can be requested.
Religious Organizations |
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For United Methodist Scouts: |
For Islamic Scouts: |
For Catholic Scouts: |
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For Baptist Scouts: |
For Catholic Scouts: |
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For Latter-day Saints Scouts: |
For Orthodox Christian Scouts: |
For Lutheran Scouts: They will mail certificates for Eagle Scout along with many others; Religious emblems, Silver, Gold, Webelos, Arrow of Light, AHG, 4H, Appreciation, Trail Life, etc. |
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For Jewish Scouts: |
For Jewish Scouts: |
For Jewish Scouts: Note: Please provide the Eagle Court of Honor date |
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For Jewish Scouts: |
For Jewish Scouts: |
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For Jewish Scouts: |
For Jewish Scouts: |
For Jewish Scouts: |
Please do NOT send letters to the individuals
and organizations listed below.
These individuals and organizations have made specific requests that
requests NOT be sent to them.
| US Air Force Recruiting Service |
US Military Academy (West Point NY) |
US Naval Academy (Annapolis MD) |
US Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs CO) |
| Civil Air Patrol Headquarters |
The Central Intelligence Agency |
NASA Johnson Space Center / Astronaut Office |
US Air Force Thunderbirds |
| The Justices of the US Supreme Court |
The Cato Institute | The Joy Cone Company | Dr. William J. Bennett |
| Pat Boone | William F. Buckley | J. Willard Marriot | Allan H. "Bud" Selig |
| Mr. James R. Moffett | Mr. Stephen Bechtel | The Boeing Corp. | Walt Disney World Communications |
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The Eagle Scout Service / NESA no longer provides congratulatory letters from James A. Lovell. |
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