What Is Scouting?
Boy Scout Ranks
Scouting provides boys many opportunities to learn skills and take part in terrific adventures. As you grow through your participation in Scouting, your achievements will be recognized and you will be awarded badges of rank.
The requirements to earn each rank are more challenging than the one before it. Each prepares you to be a better camper, hiker, Scout, and citizen.
Along the way, you will also have the opportunity to earn specialized Merit badges. Each one has it's own requirements and skills you need to master to achieve them. Earning badges can be very satisfying. However, badges are not the most important part of Scouting. Of greater value is what the badges represent. The skills you master, the wisdom you gain, and the experiences you enjoy are what really count.
Scout advancement lets you move ahead in your own way and at your own speed. Rather than competing against others, you challenge yourself to go as far as your ambition will carry you. Your rate of advancement depends upon your interest, effort, and ability.
Awarded Ranks
Scouting is fun and offers great adventure but, it also offers challenges. Each set of challenges successfully completed is rewarded along the way with increased rank and respect.
Scouts earn ranks in the following order:
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Scout – This is the basic rank of all Scouts starting out as Boy Scouts. |
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Tenderfoot – This is the first rank you will earn as a Boy Scout. The requirements offer a taste of the great adventures awaiting you in Scouting, and can give you the basic skills you'll need to begin taking part in those adventures. |
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Second Class – With the Tenderfoot requirements behind you, you're ready to move ahead toward Second Class. You'll learn how to use a map and compass. Soon you will know new ways to observe wildlife, and you'll understand when and how to build a campfire. You'll matser the safe use of pocketknives and other woods tools, go on more adventures and add to your knowledge of first aid. |
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First Class – Achieving First Class means lots more hiking and camping. Want to cook outdoors, practice first aid, identify native plants, and lash together rustic structures? All of that and more await you on the trail to First Class. |
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Star Scout and Life Scout – The trail to Eagle Scout leads through the ranks of Star Scout and Life Scout — an exciting pathway that will challenge you, test you, and open many doors to new ideas and opportunities. Building on the knowledge and experience you gained in becoming a First Class scout, the requirements for Star and Life offer plenty of Freedom in choosing the direction your interests take you, and many options for achieving each higher rank. The requirements also emphasize the roles that the Scout Oath and Law play in your life, and the importance of service to your Scout troop and to others. |
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Eagle Scout – Becoming an Eagle Scout is the highest rank and honor that a Scout can achieve. Some of the greatest American athletes, physicians, politicians, scientists, writers, astronauts, business leaders, film directors, and even a president of the United States are Eagle Scouts. The honor of being an Eagle Scout is something that doesn't just end when Scouting ends, it is an honor that follows you throughout the rest of your life and opens many doors to you. |