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Advancement and Service Hours
Note from Editors: The policies for advancement, other than the actual requirements, are mostly found in the publication Advancement Committee Guide - Policies and Procedures (ACPP). All
unit committees should have this to avoid running into the below urban legend traps.
Statement You can't work on Second Class requirements until you earn
Tenderfoot! (Substitute First Class after Second Class if you'd like)
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments This is how it worked 40-50 years ago, but in Boy Scouting
today Scouts can and should work on all three ranks simultaneously, as
opportunities for completing requirements present themselves. However,
completing boards of review and receiving these ranks must still be in order
(although they can be back-to-back).
Statement Scouts can't help Scouts. (In the context of not counting services hours for a lower ranked Scout working on an Eagle project for another Scout)
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments This one is just false.
Statement Only Scouts can help an Eagle Scout with his Eagle
project.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments ANYONE can help an Eagle candidate with his Eagle project—including Scouts and non-Scouts (e.g., friends, neighbors, classmates, religious group members, etc., etc.) alike.
Statement There are time requirements for Second and First Class ranks
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments The only specific time requirement for the foundational
ranks of Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class is the 30 days specified in Tenderfoot requirement 10a.
There are no time requirements for Second Class or for First Class.
Statement You HAVE to plan and carry out your own service project for Star and Life ranks.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments Anyone suggesting this is adding to the requirements for these ranks.
No one in your Council has the authority to add, subtract, or alter the requirements for a rank
or merit badge.
Statement The service hours for Life must involve some planning, such as helping plan an Eagle Project.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments Similar to the one above. If it isn't stated in the requirements, it
just isn't a requirement - period!
Statement To become Star or Life you must demonstrate leadership.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments The requirement states that a Scout must hold one (or
more) of the listed positions of responsibility for the requisite time.
There is no requirement for actual demonstration of leadership.
Statement It's okay (or recommended) that ASMs be on Boards of Review
(BORs) since they know the boys.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments Actually, that's exactly the reason they're not permitted
to si on BOR's. The ACPP (2006 printing on page 29) states in part: "The board of review is made up of at least three and not more than six members of the troop committee
. . ." Unit leaders, assistant unit leaders, relatives, or guardians may not serve as members of a Scout's board of review.
Statement If a troop doesn’t have enough available committee members for a board of review, parents can sit in even if they’re not registered BSA volunteers.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments Boards of review for Tenderfoot through Life rank, and Eagle palms must, by BSA policy, be registered committee members.
Statement The unit advancement chair or unit committee should make alternate requirements (or waive requirements) for Scouts who cannot complete the basic rank or merit-badge requirements.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments The ACPP has in bold several times not to add to or take away from the requirements. This is a misunderstanding of the requirements for disabled scouts exception.
Statement A Wolf or Bear Cub Scout’s “Akela” for advancement is his parents.
Fact or Fiction Fact
Comments The Den Leader for these ranks and arrow points is not “Akela” and Wolf and Bear advancements aren’t done in den meetings.
Statement The Board of Review is the final opportunity for the Troop’s adult leaders to re-test the
Scout, to make certain that he has mastered the skills and learnings of the requirements.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments A board of review is a conversation with the Scout about to advance, providing an opportunity for members of the troop committee to learn how well the troop is delivering the Scouting program, and to encourage the Scout to continue growing through advancement.
Statement The Scoutmaster’s vote, in a Board of Review, carries the same “weight” as all others.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments Neither the Scoutmaster nor any Assistant Scoutmasters are either members of any board of review or have a vote in it.
Statement The Board of Review can be conducted for multiple Scouts simultaneously, so long as they are all candidates for the same rank.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments One Scout at a time... that’s it.
Statement If a Scout fails his Board of Review, that Scout can re-test with the Board after 3 or 6
months (depending on rank) of active participation in Troop and Patrol activities.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments In fact, a Scout cannot “fail” anything in Scouting—That’s not what this program and movement are about. A Scout can, however, be found to have not adequately met the requirements of the rank for which he is being reviewed, in which case the board is obligated by BSA policy to provide that Scout with specific items or areas that are to be addressed, and a definite timeline for a review to follow.
Statement BSA guidelines for advancement requirements represent the minimum requirements for ranks and Merit Badges—The Troop’s leaders set the final standards.
Fact or Fiction Fiction - Cub Scouting &
Boy Scouting Program
Comments The ONLY standards for requirements, be they for ranks, Boy Scout merit badges, Cub Scout arrow points and sports/academics belt loops/pins, Webelos activity badges, most Venturing awards (see, exception below), Sea Scout ratings, etc., are those set by the BSA, and no council, district, unit, or individual has the authority to add to or subtract from these.
Exception Exception - Venturing Program
Comments Venturing Advisors can approve alteration of the bronze awards
requirements if the are not specific to the crew. This being said it
is up the youth to alter the requirements and must be comparable
in difficulty to the original.
The Arts & Hobbies, Sports, and Religious Life Bronze each have this
statement:
"Activities or projects that are more available in your area may be substituted with your Advisor's approval for activities shown above."
The Sea Scout and Outdoor Bronze Awards are fixed - no alteration permitted.
Statement It’s important for the Troop to manage rank and merit badge advancements carefully, so that all Scouts of similar age advance together, and no Scout feels “left behind.”
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments Advancement in all Scouting programs is determined by the individual youth.
Statement Boards of review can assist the Scoutmaster in slowing down Scouts who advance too quickly, so that with increased maturity they can better appreciate the significance of the new rank.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments No one has the right or authority to arbitrarily impede the progress of a Scout from one rank to the next, or to hold back approval of a Scout’s seeking of any merit badge.
Statement No board of review for any rank can be held after the Scout’s 18th birthday.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments Although "Complete your Board of Review" or "Successfully complete an Eagle Scout Board of Review" is the last requirement for EACH rank (except Scout, which isn't actually a rank) and for Eagle Palms, a Board of Review MAY be held AFTER the Scout has reached age 18. All OTHER requirements must be completed BEFORE the Scout's 18th Birthday.
For Eagle, in particular, the Eagle Rank Application specifically states the following
"Scouts and Venturers who have completed all requirements prior to their 18th birthday may be reviewed within three months after that date with no explanation."
"For boards of review conducted between three and six months after the candidate's 18th birthday, a statement by an adult explaining the reason for the delay must be attached to the Eagle Scout Rank Application when it is submitted to the Eagle Scout Service."
"The Boy Scout Division at the national office must be contacted for procedures to follow if a board of review is to be conducted more than six months after a candidate's 18th birthday."
Statement If a rank requirement seems too difficult, or too easy, the Pack or Troop Advancement Chair has the authority to change the requirement to better fit the boys’ abilities.
Fact or Fiction Fiction
Comments No one and no entity has the authority to alter any advancement requirement.
Statement Life Scout “mini-projects,” conducted in the same manner and process as an Eagle Project, are not permitted by National BSA Advancement Policies.
Fact or Fiction Fact
Comments Life rank candidates, just as Star candidates, contribute “service hours” in the spirit of service to others. They cannot be made to carry out projects in a manner akin to an Eagle project.
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