Posthumous awards and the Spirit of the Eagle Award

5.0.6.0. A registered youth member has died Milestone

The starting point for everything below. Two separate recognitions may follow, and which of them applies is not a matter of choosing one.

5.0.6.0. Invite parents or guardians and friends Recommended May not apply Task

The Guide calls it appropriate to invite them to the board. It is offered as fitting, not imposed as a requirement, and the family decides whether it is something they want.

You have not answered "Was the board of review the rank needed already held?" yet.

5.0.6.0. Two recognitions exist, and they are not alternatives Milestone

The Guide sets these out in two consecutive topics. One is advancement the member had already earned. The other is honorary and depends on no advancement at all. Both may apply to the same young person, or one, or neither.

Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. A registered youth member has died.

5.0.6.0. A rank or award already earned may be received posthumously Milestone

This branch is ordinary advancement, finished after the member's death. Nothing about it is honorary and nothing about it is discretionary: the rank was earned, and it is awarded.

Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. Two recognitions exist, and they are not alternatives.

5.0.7.0. The Spirit of the Eagle Award Milestone

A separate recognition created by Scouting America for registered youth members who have lost their lives. It runs independently of anything on the other branch.

Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. Two recognitions exist, and they are not alternatives.

5.0.6.0. The requirements were met before death Often forgotten Requirement

This is the whole condition. The member must have met the requirements for the rank or award prior to death. Where that is so, it may be received posthumously.

Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. A rank or award already earned may be received posthumously.

The condition is that the requirements were met, not nearly met. The Guide describes no route for completing outstanding work on a member's behalf, and this plan does not offer one, because nobody has the authority to. Where the requirements were not finished, the recognition the Guide does offer is on the other branch, and it asks for no advancement at all.

5.0.7.0. For registered youth members who lost their lives Requirement

The Guide states the eligibility in one sentence: registered youth members who have lost their lives through illness or accident. It states no advancement condition of any kind.

Usually comes after 5.0.7.0. The Spirit of the Eagle Award.

5.0.6.0. Was the board of review the rank needed already held? Decision

Ranks that require a board of review still require it. If one was held before the member died there is nothing more to arrange; if it was not, it is held now rather than treated as a bar.

Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. The requirements were met before death.

5.0.7.0. Get the application from Awards Central Document

The Guide gives the address of the application directly. Awards Central is also where the wider awards and recognitions material lives, and the forms library carries the submission details for most awards.

Usually comes after 5.0.7.0. For registered youth members who lost their lives.

5.0.6.0. The ordinary Eagle board of review timing still applies May not apply Often forgotten Requirement

The Guide says so directly: the same procedures regarding the timing of an Eagle Scout board of review apply in posthumous cases. Nothing about the circumstances suspends them.

You have not answered "Which rank or award is being bestowed?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. Was the board of review the rank needed already held?.

There is no dispensation because the case is posthumous. The Guide states that the same timing procedures apply, which means an Eagle board more than 24 months after the 18th birthday needs a Belated Rank Application here exactly as it would anywhere else.

5.0.7.0. A unit committee completes the application Often forgotten Requirement

The Guide names who does this: a unit committee. Not the family, not the council, and not an individual leader acting alone.

Usually comes after 5.0.7.0. Get the application from Awards Central.

Easy to get wrong in the direction of kindness. A grieving family should not be the ones filling in the form, and a council cannot originate it either. The Guide puts it on the unit committee.

5.0.6.0. The board of review is held posthumously May not apply Often forgotten Event

Where a required board of review has not been conducted, it is held. The Guide states this in two separate places rather than leaving it to be inferred.

You have not answered "Was the board of review the rank needed already held?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. Was the board of review the rank needed already held?.

5.0.7.0. Submit it to the local council within six months of the death Often forgotten Task

The completed application goes to the local council, and it must get there within six months of the member's death. This is the only fixed date anywhere in either topic.

Usually comes after 5.0.7.0. A unit committee completes the application.

Six months from the date of death. The Guide states the limit and describes no procedure for an application made after it, so treat the six months as the whole of the window. If a unit is close to it, submit what is complete and speak to the council rather than waiting for something to be perfect.

5.0.6.0. Is the rank Eagle Scout? Decision

Everything up to here is the same for any rank or award. From here Eagle Scout takes a longer route, because the application leaves the council.

Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. The board of review is held posthumously.

5.0.7.0. The local council reviews, approves and processes it Approval

All three happen at the local council. There is no district stage and nothing is forwarded to national for a decision.

Usually comes after 5.0.7.0. Submit it to the local council within six months of the death.

5.0.6.0. The application is verified at the council service center May not apply Approval

For Eagle Scout, verification happens at the council service center as it would in any other case. Verification is where it stops locally; processing does not happen there.

You have not answered "Which rank or award is being bestowed?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. Is the rank Eagle Scout?.

5.0.7.0. The council orders the certificate from National Supply Task

The certificate is ordered from National Supply by the council that approved the application. That is where the Guide's account of the process ends.

Usually comes after 5.0.7.0. The local council reviews, approves and processes it.

5.0.6.0. It must be sent to the National Program Committee for processing May not apply Task

Having been verified, the application must go to the National Program Committee or their designee. This is the step that distinguishes a posthumous Eagle application from an ordinary one at council level.

You have not answered "Which rank or award is being bestowed?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. The application is verified at the council service center.

5.0.6.0. A cover letter must indicate that it is posthumous May not apply Often forgotten Document

A cover letter from the Scout executive or designee must accompany the application and say that the case is posthumous. Without it nothing downstream knows.

You have not answered "Which rank or award is being bestowed?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. It must be sent to the National Program Committee for processing.

The most avoidable failure in this whole plan, and the one the family will be the ones to discover. Without the cover letter marking the case posthumous, what comes back is the ordinary congratulatory letter, addressed to a living Scout, in the present tense.

5.0.6.0. The rank or award is received posthumously Milestone

The end of this branch. The member receives the rank or award they earned, in the Guide's own words, posthumously.

Usually comes after 5.0.6.0. A cover letter must indicate that it is posthumous and 5.0.6.0. Is the rank Eagle Scout?.