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Tejas District Eagle Procedures

Eagle Badge

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Points of Contact
It is requested that the Scout contact the district on his own so that he can benefit from any changes that are suggested first hand. A parent or Eagle mentor are welcome to attend this meeting with the District Advancement Chairman or the Eagle District Advancement Chairman but it is important for the Scout to make the initial contact.

Overview of Eagle Process
The Eagle process begins when a Scout earns his Life rank. At this point he should review all Eagle requirements and develop a timeline for accomplishing everything prior to his 18th birthday. Particular attention should be paid to:

  • those required merit badges which have a specific period of performance (up to 3 months) associated with them,
  • the troop leadership position, and
  • the Eagle Leadership Service Project.

The required 6 month tenure as a Life Scout, all 21 merit badges, 6 months in the required leadership position(s), and the project (including the final write-up) must be completed prior to the 18th birthday. The final project write-up should be in the Scoutmaster's hands prior to the Scout's 18th birthday. The Scout, in turn, may submit it along with the Eagle Application to the council as soon as possible so that his merit badges can be verified. The Eagle Board of Review will be scheduled by the Tejas District Advancement Committee after the application has been processed by the Longhorn Council and may be conducted after the Scouts has reached 18.

The Scout should discuss any questions he has about a requirement or a procedure with his troop Advancement Chairman or Scoutmaster. If the troop leaders cannot provide the needed information, they will contact the District Advancement Committee. While the troop leaders will make every effort to guide the Scout through the Eagle process, it is ultimately the Scouts responsibility to ensure all requirements are met.

Eagle Leadership Service Project
The Service Project may be started anytime after completing the Life Board of Review. It is not necessary to have earned all 21 merit badges before planning and working the project. The first step is to get a copy of the official BSA Life to Eagle package, which describes all of the requirements and limitations for the project and contains the Leadership Service Project Workbook. This package should be read in its entirety before doing any project planning.

The details of how to plan and conduct the project are described in detail on the Eagle Leadership Service Project Planning Guide © web site. While the Scout is not required to use this guide, it is recommended since it contains much valuable information which has been developed from years of helping Scouts through with task.

The Leadership Service Project Workbook (or an electronic version of it) must be used for submitting the project proposal to the district for approval. The Scout may choose to write the project plan by hand or on any word processor and cut and paste it into the official workbook. An electronic version of the required official BSA Leadership Service Project Workbook may be downloaded from the National BSA web site. The RTF (Rich Text Format) version may be easily edited using a word processor like Microsoft Word. The Acrobat Reader (PDF) version may only be printed and written in. The PDF cannot be electronically edited.

After the project plan has been signed by the benefiting agency and all troop representatives, it should be submitted to the district for final authorization to proceed. The Scout should submit the project plan to Mrs. Patti Belknap, District Advancement Chairman or Mr. Ted Bajoreck, Eagle Advancement Chairman. NO work, other than planning, should be accomplished prior to receiving district approval. If the plan is not acceptable for any reason, it will not be signed by the district but the Scout will be given a description of what is required to complete a satisfactory plan on the Eagle Project Worksheet. This will delay the Scout's ability to begin work so the troop should make every effort to ensure it is acceptable prior to submitting it. Once the project plan has been approved by the District Advancement Committee, the Scout is cleared to begin work.

Troop Leadership Position
The requirement states "While a Life Scout, serve actively for 6 months in one or more of the following positions of responsibility:
Boy Scout troop. Patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, senior patrol leader, troop guide, den chief, scribe, librarian, historian, quartermaster, junior assistant Scoutmaster, chaplain aide, instructor, or Venture crew chief. Each troop may have one Order of the Arrow representative. This is an acceptable leadership position, if approved by the district OA chapter.
Varsity Scout team. Captain, co-captain, program manager, squad leader, team secretary, librarian, quartermaster, chaplain aide, instructor, or den chief.

Please note that not all troop leadership positions satisfy this requirement. In particular, Assistant Patrol Leader (APL), Patrol Scribe, or Patrol Quartermaster are not acceptable.

The Scout may hold a combination of the authorized positions to satisfy this requirement. It is not necessary to hold one position for the entire 6 months. It is the Scout's responsibility to document his leadership positions and associated service dates.

Eagle Scout Application
The Eagle Application, along with the Project Workbook (initial proposal and the final write-up) should be submitted by Scout to the Longhorn Council Service Center. After their review, they will advise the Scout to pick it up and take it to the District Advancement Committee.
Longhorn Council Eagle Processing Instructions:

Effective June 15, 2000, Eagle candidates wanting to turn in their advancement paperwork for Eagle should contact the Registrar at the Council office, 817-624-5500.

The Registrar will meet with candidates between the hours of 4:00-5:00 pm on an appointment basis only for immediate processing

Paperwork dropped off at the Council office requires 10 days for processing. There is no longer a "drop-in-while-you-wait" process of Eagle applications.

The application must be completed with great care, since the Longhorn Council will check every entry for accuracy and to ensure that all requirements are completely documented. The council will verify each rank (from Scout Badge/Tenderfoot through Life) and all merit badge against their records. If the council records are incomplete or if there are any problems, the Scout will be contacted and asked to produce proof that the requirements have been met.

Some common discrepancies found on Eagle Applications are:

  • Tenure for Star, Life and Eagle ranks are not correct.
    The official date of rank is the date of the Board of Review for that rank. Note that the tenure for Star is 4 months since earning 1st Class, 6 months from Star to Life, and 6 months from Life to Eagle. It is, therefore, impossible for a Scout to earn Eagle if he is not 1st Class at least 1 year and 4 months (to the day) before his 18th birthday. This is carefully checked by the council.
  • The council does not have any record of a rank or merit badge having been earned.
    This problem can easily be resolved by showing the merit badge blue card, merit badge card awarded with the badge, or the troop's copy of the Advancement report, which should have been submitted when purchasing rank and merit badges. Giving a Scout a rank or merit badge patch from the troop's (unauthorized) stockpile is a sure invitation for this problem.
  • Merit badge dates do not agree with the dates of rank.
    An example is a merit badge claimed for Life appears to have been earned after the Life BOR. This is usually a documentation problem. The official date for earning a merit badge is the date the blue card is signed by the MB counselor.
  • Eagle required merit badges were not earned as required for Star and Life.
    This should be caught at the Star or Life BOR. The Eagle required merit badges in effect at the time of the Star or Life BOR are used to verify this requirement. If not just a paperwork issue, this can be a major problem in earning the Eagle rank, so please verify these as part of all BORs.

The best defense against these problems is to maintain good troop advancement records. Also, each Scout (and his parents) should understand the importance of maintaining all advancement (rank and merit badge) cards in a safe place.

Eagle Board of Review
The Eagle Board of Review (BOR) is the final step in earning this rank. This review will be scheduled by the Tejas District Advancement Committee once the Longhorn Council has reviewed the Eagle Application to verify all prior rank and merit badges have been completed as required.

The Eagle Board of Review will be held at a time and location convenient to the district representatives, the Scout's troop leaders and the Scout. The Eagle Board is comprised of at least one representative from the Tejas District Advancement Committee and two Troop Committee Members. The Scout's Scoutmaster (or designated ASM) may introduce the Eagle candidate to the board, but may not participate in the review. Neither Assistant Scoutmasters nor the Scout's parents (regardless of position) are authorized to serve on the BOR.

The Scout should report to the BOR location in full uniform. The full uniform is defined as the official BSA shirt and pants with patches (including the Life rank patch) sown on in the proper places (as shown in the Scout Handbook or uniform inspection form). Any Scouting belt is acceptable. The neckerchief is a troop option so the Scout should comply with his troop's neckerchief guidelines. The merit badge sash is considered part of the uniform and should be worn over the right shoulder (not on the belt). The Order of the Arrow (OA) sash is only authorized during OA activities, so should not be worn at the Eagle BOR.

The Eagle BOR will last approximately 30 to 45 minutes. It will begin with the Scoutmaster introducing the Scout, then leaving the room. The Board will take a few minutes to get aquatinted with the Scout and put him at ease, then continue with a discussion of the candidate's Scouting experience, his Eagle Service Project, and his life goals. The BOR is not a retest of previous advancement requirements, however the Scout should be prepared to recite the Scout Oath, Law, Slogan, and Motto and discuss what they mean to him and how he lives by these Scouting principles. The Scout will then be ask to leave the room while the Board discusses the review and reaches a decision. The Scout and his Scoutmaster will then be called back to receive the Boards decision and (hopefully) their congratulations. In the rare case where the Board does not recommend that the candidate receive the Eagle rank, they will discuss the follow-up actions.

Eagle Court of Honor
The Eagle award is normally presented at a special Eagle Court of Honor (COH), and not during at a routine troop COH. The troop leaders and the Scout's parents may plan and conduct this ceremony anyway they desire. There is no "standard" Eagle COH program. There are many Eagle COH ceremony ideas available on the Internet.

It should be realized that the Eagle Application must be approved by the BSA National Office, which may take a couple of weeks, therefore the COH should not be scheduled until you are sure the application has been approved and that the Eagle award package is going to be available at the Longhorn Council Service Center.

Additional information concerning council Eagle Policies and Procedures may be reviewed on the Longhorn Council web site:

Life to Eagle Timeline Summary

  • Earn Life (BOR date is the official date).
  • Get Life to Eagle Package and read all of it.
  • Continue earning merit badges.
  • Serve in appropriate leadership positions.
  • Plan project, get troop level signatures.
  • Submit project proposal to District Advancement Committee .
  • Receive district approval of project plan.
  • Work project.
  • Prepare final project write-up and get troop level signatures.
  • Complete Eagle Application.
  • Conduct Eagle Scoutmaster Conference.
  • Submit Eagle Application and project (plan and final write-up) to the Longhorn Council for verification.
  • District Advancement Committee receives approved application from the council and delivers to the District Advancement Committee.
  • District Advancement Committee checks out personal references listed on the application and schedules Eagle Board of Review.
  • Conduct BOR (includes final review of the project final write-up).
  • District Advancement Committee sends application back to the council office.
  • Council sends application to National BSA HQ.
  • National office give final approval and returns the package along with the Eagle rank patch, medal, etc. to the council.
  • The SM is notified to pick up the Eagle rank patch, medal, etc.
  • Conduct the Eagle Court of Honor.