Advancement - Policies

Basic Merit Badge Policy

In addition to all Merit Badge requirements as set forth by the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 194 employs some additional conditions as safeguards in the advancement process:

1. Anyone can get a Merit Badge but we would like to see all New Scouts achieve the rank of Tenderfoot prior to working on badges.

2. The rank of Eagle Scout can only be attained by earning ALL of the eleven (11) required Eagle Badges plus an additional ten (10) badges for a total of twenty-one Merit Badges. There will be no exceptions.

3. Requirements must be signed off by a Registered Merit Badge Counselor FOR THAT BADGE ONLY. You CANNOT go to another Counselor to sign off on a badge for which he or she is not certified. Please refer to the Counselors Page for a complete list of all Counselors and their badges. In an emergency, the Scoutmaster or an Assistant Scoutmaster, in consultation with the Merit Badge Counselor, may sign off on a requirement.

4. A Merit Badge Counselor may counsel his/her own son ONLY if another Merit Badge Counselor is involved in the requirements work and can independently verify that the work has been completed. IN NO CASE shall a Merit Badge Counselor sign off on a requirement for his/her own son without the knowledge and approval of the Scoutmaster.

5. All Merit Badge Cards (Blue Cards) are distributed and collected by the Advancement Chairman. Cards must be filled out in the presence of the Advancement Chairman with the correct Merit Badge title entered appropriately. The Advancement Chairman will then sign the card.

6. The Scoutmaster is the sole and final authority on the validity of a completed requirement.

7. Partial requirements are good for a period of one year from the start of the Merit Badge work. After that, you have to do the work over again.

Scoutmaster's Personal Message To All Scouts That Want to Work on Merit Badges

If you plan to earn a merit badge, you must PERSONALLY contact the Merit Badge Counselor associated with that badge. Your parent is NOT to make this call for you since this is your responsibility as a Scout. The Counselor will direct you as to what you have to do for the merit badge as well as the timing of the work. This is all part of learning the badge and developing leadership. Also, just because you have 50 merit badges, it does not mean you will advance in rank. To do so, you must have proven yourself to the adults and junior leader staff that you have provided LEADERSHIP to the Troop and your fellow Scouts. This leadership requirement is part of the national scouting prerequisites for rank advancement. You will need 4 to 6 months of leadership activity for Star Scout and an additional 6 to 8 months for Life Scout, depending on your consistency and Scout Spirit as well as completing the requirements for the rank.

Special Note Regarding trying to get a Counselor to hurry through a merit badge or award so that it can be received at an up coming awards presentation:

If the Counselor is able to accommodate you within their time frame, then that’s fine. However, if the Counselor indicates that he or she is unable to help you on short notice, the Scout should accept the decision and not pursue the matter further. Our Counselors volunteer a lot time out of their busy lives and schedules and we should respect their commitment. A Scout should plan to give himself sufficient time to complete the badge, rank or award and have all the appropriate paperwork signed off accordingly. This is part of leadership. If you want to receive a merit badge by a specific date, you must turn in a signed and verified Blue Merit Badge Card TWO weeks prior to the desired date or we cannot guarantee you will receive it on time. All completed cards must be turned into the Advancement Chairman.

Under NO circumstances should a parent contact a Merit Badge Counselor on behalf of the Scout. If a Scout is having a problem with a Merit Badge Counselor with regard to earning a badge or award, the SCOUT should contact the Merit Badge Chairman (who can be reached by email at meritbadges@bsatroop194.org) to discuss the issue. DO NOT CALL ANOTHER MERIT BADGE COUNSELOR!!! Again, this is a demonstration of leadership. In the rare case of a major problem, the matter will be referred to the Scoutmaster who is the sole and final judge as to the awarding of an award, merit badge or rank advancement.

Regarding Scoutmaster Conferences and Boards of Review

All Scouts MUST be prepared to do the following before seeking a Scoutmaster Conference or Board of Review:

1. The advancing Scout must demonstrate Scout Spirit as well as the rank requirements.

2. He must have attended a minimum of 60% of the Troop meetings in full uniform.

3. He must have participated in 3 overnights or Troop activities defined by the Troop. One event MUST be a Camporee, the second MUST be Basic Training while the third campout or activity may be of the Scout's choice. This must be completed during the Scouting Year September thru July. Summer Camp does not count. A Scout seeking advancement early in the year must have shown that in the prior year he has attended the three campout minimum otherwise his advancement will be delayed until he shows a trend to do so in the new year.

Definitions:

Full Uniform: Shirt with correct patches, pants, belt, sash, neckerchief or bola, and Scout Handbook

Scout Skills Knowledge: Scout must demonstrate that he has a grasp of basic Scout skills including, but not limited to, knots, first aid, camping, etc. Tenderfoot, 2nd Class and 1st Class Scouts must document three (3) skills they have learned and tell why it helped them.

Scout Spirit: Prior to the Board of Review, the Scout must have completed three (3) campouts in the current Scouting Year or has shown a consistent camping record in prior years, not counting Summer Camp, and has attended a proportional amount (60%) of the Troop meetings.

Leadership: Where rank-appropriate, the Scout must submit three (3) verifiable examples of accomplishments in leadership that he has successfully completed in his current rank. These accomplishments must be different from the prior rank advancement, in other words, the Scout must demonstrate what he did different from his last Board of Review to advance his leadership goals. He must also explain in detail how this helped him and the Troop.

Summer Camp Merit Badge Policy

To earn merit badges at our Troop 194 Summer Camp at Resica Falls, please follow these simple rules:

1. Decide what badges you want to work on. Click HERE for a list of the Merit Badges being offered at our Summer Camp. Please note all the official BSA pre-requisites for the badges you want to work on.

2. Blue Cards - You can get Blue Cards from the Advancement Chairman, Merit Badge Chairman or a Merit Badge Counselor. Cards will be provided at Summer Camp for scouts that need them.

3. Do your pre-requisites. Make sure you have all your work done BEFORE the Resica Falls Summer Camp. If you have the Blue Card, get it signed off by your Merit Badge Counselor. If not, counselors will be available at the Resica Falls Summer Camp to check your pre-requisites before you continue with the badge. Simple, "one-day" badges (ex: fingerprinting, leatherwork, etc.) don't have to be signed off in advance.

4. Have fun. Do your best to have a great camping experience. Remember that you can get "partials" and finish the work when you get home.

Summer Merit Badge Camp Policy (Camps other than the Troop 194 Summer Camp at Resica Falls)

If you are going to MERIT BADGE CAMP over the summer, here are the rules:

YOU MUST GET YOUR PRE-REQUISITES DONE AND SIGNED OFF ON YOUR BLUE CARDS BEFORE YOU GO TO CAMP!!! THIS IS MANDATORY!!! IF YOU DON'T GET THE SIGNOFFS, THE WORK WILL NOT COUNT!!!

Here's the process:

1. Decide what badges you want to work on. Check the website for your Merit Badge Camp to see what badges they offer and understand the official BSA pre-requisites necessary for the badge. If you're also coming to our Resica Falls Summer Camp, pick badges that we don't offer so you can get the most out of your summer camping experience.

2. See the Advancement Chairman or MerIt Badge Chairman for your Blue Card. You must obtain your Blue Card with the badge name, signed and dated by one of them BEFORE you go to Merit Badge Camp. You will get a card for each badge you want to work on. However, we will NOT issue 20 cards!!!

3. Do your pre-requisites and have them signed off. If any of the badges require that some work be done before you go to Merit Badge Camp, you MUST do the work and have it SIGNED OFF by your Merit Badge Counselor before you go to Merit Badge Camp. Pre-requisites CANNOT be signed off by an outside Merit Badge Camp Counselor. Such signoffs will be rejected upon presentation of the Blue Card. The only exception is that pre-requisites for simple, "one-day" badges (ex: fingerprinting, leatherwork, etc.) don't have to be signed off in advance. If a badge requires a month-long journal, for example, and you don't have it done before Merit Badge Camp, you will NOT fulfill that requirement.

4. Have fun at Merit Badge Camp. This is not a race to see who gets the most badges! You only need 21 badges to become an Eagle Scout. So have fun and enjoy yourself. Remember that you can get "partials" and finish the work when you get home.

5. Hand in your Blue Card when you get back. Get your cards back to the unit leader who issued them. Then all cards will get reviewed by the appropriate Troop 194 Merit Badge Counselor who will check that the work was done. For difficult badges, the Counselor, at his or her discretion, may require proof of the work or re-test the scout to make sure that the knowledge and/or skill has been learned. So it is important to keep ALL the work you do (essays you write, notes you have taken, small projects you have completed, etc.) so you can produce them when asked.

6. Special Note: You cannot pursue an Eagle-required badge at Merit Badge Camp unless ALL pre-requisites are completed and signed off by the appropriate Troop 194 Merit Badge Counselor before you go to camp. All other Eagle-required badge signoffs done at a Merit Badge Camp will be reviewed and are subject to re-testing by Troop 194 Counselors upon the scout's presentation of the Blue Card. There will be no exceptions. We need to make sure that every boy has done the hard and serious work required for these particular badges so that the rank is attained with a young man in full possession of all the skills and knowledge expected of an Eagle Scout.