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When can an Eagle Patch be worn?

 

Have a young scout that wishes to purchase an Eagle Patch to wear on uniform to camp. EBOR was last Sunday, camp starts this Sunday. Final paperwork submitted, no response from national yet. Can he purchase a patch and wear it?

 

yis

red feather

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Technically, the rules say not to present any of the materials until the application is returned from national, but the official date of receiving his Eagle is the board of review. Let the young man enjoy his accomplishment. Absolutely let him wear the badge to camp.

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You need to wait until you hear back from National. The Eagle is a national award and until National approves the application, he has not earned it.

 

Call your council and see if they can expidite the process on their end any.

 

Here is the official policy: "The Eagle Scout medal or patch must not be sold or otherwise provided to any unit, nor should the court of honor be scheduled until after the certificate is received at the council service center from the national Advancement Team."

Guide to Advancement 8.0.3.0 Particulars for the Eagle Scout Rank

 

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/GuideToAdvancement/BoardsofReview.aspx

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I have sat on many an EBOR over the last 18 months. In our council they make a point of telling each scout two things:

 

1) Congratulations, you are an Eagle scout

2) Use the date of the EBOR when asked (or for college apps etc) when they earned Eagle. (not the date the paperwork comes back from national)

 

So, that said, if he were in my troop I would say go sew it on.

 

Chris

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The Eagle Rank is a national award that has not been delegated to local councils to award. So a Life Scout going for Eagle isn't an Eagle Scout until national approves the application. He waits.

 

A Scout is Trustworthy

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But in the eyes of the council, the troop, the scout and his family, he was an Eagle the moment the board chair said "Congratulations, Johnny Scout, you've passed your Eagle board."

 

National will process the paperwork in due time. Key word: paperwork. The "real" part of scouting happened the previous several years in the troop. Where it really counts.

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Sorry, the date is the date on the paperwork is the date of his EBOR, but he isn't an Eagle Scout until National says he is. It's their award, not the units, not the Council's and not his grandpa's

 

 

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Again, paperwork. The notion that National owns the Eagle award isn't as important as the reality that Johnny was an Eagle after the board met. No scout should wait for earned rank--particularly Eagle--while paperwork is being processed.

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Thanks for all the replies.

 

So far the forum is split pretty much on the lines of the troop that I serve. After discussions we are leaning pretty heavy on the the real world adage...'the job ain't done until the paper work is done'. Kinda real world sort of thing. The young man is a Eagle with or without the patch. The patch is, imho, just a recognition of an organization that he has earned it. Not that he is one.

 

thanks again, going to summer camp this Sunday with the troop.

 

yahoo!!

yis

Red feather

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I would let him wear the patch. Has National EVER not issued a certificate for someone who had passed the EBOR?

 

When I was ordained as a minister, it took the International Offices of our denomination two or three months to get my certificate made up and signed. Didn't mean I couldn't do ministry in the meantime.

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Yeah, I'm sure Bnelon is right. Following some piss-ant rule about filing paperwork is more important than celebrating this young man's accomplishment and allowing him to have his day to shine at Scout camp in front of all his buddies. Twenty years from now I'm sure that lesson in trustworthyness will be a memorable moment in his Scouting career.

 

Since we're into bureaucratic technicalities, let's note the policy prohibits the patch being sold or provided to a unit not the individual Scout. If the Scout buys the patch, or certainly if someone loans or gives the patch to the Scout, he's well within policy.

 

If we're going to be pedantic, let's be pedantic!

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a Life Scout going for Eagle isn't an Eagle Scout until national approves the application.

 

Say what? At our district board of review, when it completes, the coordinator tells the Scout, "You are now and always will be an Eagle Scout."

 

Sure, the unit isn't supposed to provide the badge until the paperwork is done. But really, telling the Scout he's not actually an Eagle yet? Nope. No way would I say that. He's an Eagle. The date is the date of the BoR.

 

If he gets a badge, he can wear it. Heck, I'd even give him one. We actually did this once when we had a Scout who was moving out of the country. Should we have waited for approval from national and have had no court of honor instead?

 

I also see that the other ranks "may not be presented until the advancement is reported to the local council through the BSA's Internet Advancement or on the official Advancement Report form". Our troop does immediate recognition and presents the rank on the evening that the Scout earns it by completing his board of review. This is in keeping with another guideline in the advancement guide, "When the board of review has approved his advancement, the Scout deserves recognition as soon as possible."

 

Where does it say that a Scout is not an Eagle until the paperwork is done? The application form itself, which the Scout sees, says "Presentation of the rank may not be made until the Eagle Scout credentials are received by the BSA local council." That doesn't say that the Scout is not yet an Eagle. It just says that the unit isn't supposed to present him with the rank. I can easily see how a Scout would think that if he had an Eagle badge, he could wear it. Because he really is an Eagle.

 

"If the members agree a Scout is ready to advance, he is called in and congratulated. The board of review date-not that of a subsequent court of honor-becomes the rank's effective date."

 

That's it. The board has congratulated him. They've told him he's an Eagle. Why would you squash that?

 

 

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