Advancing as a Lone Scout

5.0.3.0. A youth has no access to a traditional unit Milestone

The circumstance Lone Scouting exists for. Not a preference about the local units: the Guide says in terms that it is not an alternative for those who simply do not like them or cannot get along with them.

Lone Scouting is not an alternative for those who simply do not like the local units or cannot get along with them. The Guide says so in terms.

5.0.3.0. Living abroad: ask the National Council which council serves you Optional Task

Those living outside the United States should contact the National Council on 972-580-2000 to find out which local council covers their location.

5.0.3.1. Anything else needs council advancement committee approval Optional Often forgotten Approval

Where a requirement cannot be met as written, the friend and counselor may suggest equal or very similar alternatives. Suggesting them is not the same as approving them: the council advancement committee decides.

The friend and counselor may suggest an equal or very similar alternative. Approving it is the council advancement committee's decision, not theirs.

5.0.3.0. Meet others and visit a unit where you can Recommended Task

Permissible and even beneficial. These meetings provide extra instruction and counseling, and a more public setting in which achievement can be recognised.

5.0.3.0. Cub Scouting or Scouts BSA, those two only Often forgotten Decision

Venturing and Sea Scouts do not offer an equivalent experience, so there is no Lone Venturer and no Lone Sea Scout.

Usually comes after 5.0.3.0. A youth has no access to a traditional unit.

5.0.3.0. Register through the council service centre Document

Application is made as a Lone Cub Scout or a Lone Scout through the local council.

Usually comes after 5.0.3.0. Cub Scouting or Scouts BSA, those two only.

5.0.3.0. Recruit a Lone Scout friend and counselor Approval

Every Lone Scout must work with one. Preferably a parent, but a religious leader, teacher, neighbour or Scouting volunteer will do.

Usually comes after 5.0.3.0. Register through the council service centre.

Even where the friend and counselor is the Scout's own parent, all four conditions apply: Youth Protection training, at least 21 years old, registered with Scouting America, and meeting the adult membership requirements.

5.0.3.0. Get the Lone Scout Friend and Counselor Guidebook Recommended Document

Called an essential tool in carrying out the programme, and available at scouting.org/advancement. It holds detail on alternatives that the Guide to Advancement itself does not.

5.0.3.1. Requirements one Scout and a counselor can meet are met as written Often forgotten Requirement

Ranks, merit badges and any other advancement award. This is the limit on the flexibility, and the Guide states it before it states the flexibility: Lone Scouting is not a place to register a youth simply to make parental approval of advancement easier.

Usually comes after 5.0.3.0. Recruit a Lone Scout friend and counselor.

Lone Scouting is not a place to register a youth simply to facilitate parental approval of advancement. The flexibility described below exists for requirements that genuinely cannot be met, not for requirements that are inconvenient.

5.0.3.2. Merit badges: registered counselors, recruited locally May not apply Task

A Lone Scout earns merit badges by working with adult counselors who meet the ordinary qualifications and are registered with the council. Teachers, hobbyists, business leaders and club members are the Guide's suggested sources.

You have not answered "Which program is the Lone Scout registered in?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.3.0. Recruit a Lone Scout friend and counselor.

5.0.3.1. Rank advancement Milestone

The ranks themselves are the same ranks, earned to the same requirements, with the narrow room for alternatives described above.

Usually comes after 5.0.3.1. Requirements one Scout and a counselor can meet are met as written.

8.0.0.0. The board of review Event

For the Eagle Scout rank, a Lone Scout works with the district or council advancement committee according to local practices. For the other ranks the Guide to Advancement does not say who holds the board. Ask the council.

Usually comes after 5.0.3.1. Rank advancement.

For the Eagle Scout rank, section 5.0.3.3 says a Lone Scout works with the district or council advancement committee. Nothing was found in the Guide to Advancement saying who holds the board of review for a Lone Scout's Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star or Life rank. Ask the local council rather than assuming.

5.0.3.3. The Eagle Scout application for a Lone Scout Optional May not apply Milestone

Reviewed and processed through the ordinary Eagle application steps at 9.0.1.0 to 9.0.1.10 (council verification, the board of review, and submission to the National Program Committee) with four particulars that are not ordinary at all.

You have not answered "Which program is the Lone Scout registered in?" yet.

Usually comes after 8.0.0.0. The board of review.

5.0.3.3. The friend and counselor conducts the unit leader conference May not apply Task

And signs as the unit leader, both on the Eagle Scout Rank Application and in the service project workbook.

You have not answered "Which program is the Lone Scout registered in?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.3.3. The Eagle Scout application for a Lone Scout.

5.0.3.3. Work with the district or council advancement committee May not apply Approval

According to local practices. They stand in for the unit that would ordinarily carry the application forward.

You have not answered "Which program is the Lone Scout registered in?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.3.3. The friend and counselor conducts the unit leader conference and 5.0.3.3. The Eagle Scout application for a Lone Scout.

5.0.3.3. The council sends the application to National on paper May not apply Often forgotten Document

Because the Lone Scout is not affiliated with a unit, the local council processor must send the application to the National Program Committee or their designee. It cannot be submitted electronically.

You have not answered "Which program is the Lone Scout registered in?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.3.3. Work with the district or council advancement committee.

It cannot be submitted electronically. A council used to filing applications through the system needs to know this before the deadline, not afterwards.