Life Rank

Earn Star first. The clock starts there Milestone

Seven of the eight requirements only count from the date the Star board of review approved you, so the useful first step is knowing that date. The eighth, requirement 3, is the one that does not restart.

Requirements 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 all count only from the date your Star board of review approved you. Service hours given the month before, six months in a position that ended the week before, and a Scout taught last summer do not count towards Life. Find that date before planning anything else on this sheet.

Work to the requirements in force when you start Document

Rank requirements are republished yearly. A Scout beginning work on the next rank uses the requirements as they stand then.

Usually comes after Earn Star first. The clock starts there.

Rank requirements are republished yearly. Guide to Advancement 4.0.0.1 states that once a new or revised requirement appears on the program web page, a Scout beginning work on the next rank uses it as stated there. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.

1. Six months active as a Star Scout Often forgotten Milestone

One of two six-month clocks on this sheet, and it starts on the date of your Star board of review. It runs at the same time as requirement 5 rather than before or after it.

Usually comes after Work to the requirements in force when you start.

3. Five more merit badges, three of them Eagle-required Often forgotten Requirement

Eleven in all, and the three from the Eagle-required list are additional to the four counted for Star, so seven of your eleven. This is the one substantive requirement here NOT limited to work done as a Star Scout, so earlier badges count.

Usually comes after Work to the requirements in force when you start.

5. Six months in a position of responsibility Often forgotten Milestone

While a Star Scout, in one or more approved positions, or a Scoutmaster-approved leadership project instead. Assistant patrol leader does not count for this rank. Bugler does, but will not count again for Eagle.

Usually comes after Work to the requirements in force when you start.

Assistant patrol leader is NOT an approved position of responsibility for the Life rank. It is in a footnote on the sheet, and finding it out after six months is the most expensive mistake available on this page.

Bugler IS on the list for Life and is NOT on the list for Eagle. A Scout who serves six months as bugler earns Life with it and then has to serve six more months in a different position for Eagle. Worth knowing before the position is chosen rather than after.

2. Scout spirit, as a Star Scout Task

How you have done your duty to God and how you have lived the Scout Oath and Law in everyday life. Like Star, this asks about the Oath and Law as a whole rather than the four named points the lower ranks ask for.

4. Six hours of service, three of them conservation Often forgotten Task

Through one or more projects approved by your Scoutmaster. At least three of the six hours must be conservation-related, which is unique to this rank and is the half most often missed.

At least three of the six hours must be CONSERVATION-related. This is the only rank that says so, and six hours of the same non-conservation service leaves the requirement half finished with nothing to show for the surplus. Decide which hours are the conservation hours before they are given, not afterwards.

6. Teach another Scout, using Teaching EDGE Often forgotten Task

One of eight sets of skills, all of them requirements from ranks you have already earned. What is judged is whether the Scout you taught is ready to pass those requirements to the Scoutmaster's satisfaction.

7. Scoutmaster conference Milestone

While a Star Scout. Not a retest, and it must not be denied to a Scout who asks for one.

8. Board of review Approval

The last step. If it does not approve, there is a route of appeal and the sheet names it.

Board of review, and the rank is earned Milestone

Requirement 8 is the board of review. If it does not approve the advancement, the decision may be appealed under Guide to Advancement 8.0.4.0, which the sheet itself points at in a footnote.