Sea Scout ranks and awards

Apprentice through Quartermaster with the Skipper conference before each board, the service project and its four approvals, and the two branches that reach outside the ship.

16 steps (25 parts inside them). 12 steps and parts depend on questions you have not answered yet. · Version 1, published 9 August 2026 · About Sea Scout Ranks and Awards

No questions answered

This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering the 3 questions at the address above takes out the parts that are not for you.

Which of this applies to you

You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering 3 short questions will take out the parts that are not for you.

Answer the questions

The steps

Stage 1 of 9

2 steps

4.4.0.0. Sea Scouts, and its own advancement track Milestone

Units are called ships and use paddle craft, power boats and sailing vessels. The program combines traditions of the past with technology of the future, promotes service to others, and rewards individual pursuits of excellence. Each level marks progressive growth as a seaman and a leader.

Everything on this page describing a rank is the Guide describing it, not stating its requirements. The requirements are published in the Sea Scout Manual and at seascout.org, and the Guide to Advancement deliberately does not reproduce them. Do not treat any rank node here as a checklist.
4.4.1.6. Other Sea Scout awards Optional Requirement

Earned alongside the ranks rather than as part of them, except where a rank names one.
2 parts
- 4.4.1.6. The bars, the badge and the arcs Optional
- 4.4.1.6. Any Scouting America recognition not limited to another program Optional Often forgotten

Stage 2 of 9

1 step

4.4.1.0. Registered Sea Scouts, and everything before 21 Requirement

All requirements must be completed before the 21st birthday, and the ranks and awards are available to registered Sea Scouts only.

Usually comes after 4.4.0.0. Sea Scouts, and its own advancement track.

The 21st birthday, for the requirements of every rank. A limited time extension exists for the Quartermaster rank alone, applied for through the local council under the same tests as an Eagle Scout extension, with references to age 18 in that procedure reading as age 21 here. See 4.4.1.4.1.

Stage 3 of 9

2 steps

4.4.1.1. Apprentice rank Milestone

The Guide describes this rank rather than listing it: active Sea Scouts learn ideals, courtesies, procedures and responsibilities, and how members of a ship are organised and uniformed. The requirements themselves are in the Sea Scout Manual.

Usually comes after 4.4.1.0. Registered Sea Scouts, and everything before 21.
2 parts
- 4.4.1.1. Ideals, courtesies, and how a ship is organised
- 4.4.1.1. Basic swimming, beginning seamanship, and Safe Swim Defense
4.4.0.1. Carrying on with Scouts BSA advancement May not apply Decision

Sea Scout leaders have to understand that Scouts BSA advancement procedures must be followed, wherever the youth member is registered. The ship does not get to run them its own way.

You have not answered "Is the Sea Scout also working on Scouts BSA advancement?" yet.

Usually comes after 4.4.1.0. Registered Sea Scouts, and everything before 21.

Scouts BSA advancement procedures must be followed, wherever the youth is registered. A ship that runs Star and Life its own way because the Scout is in a ship now has misread this topic, which says the opposite.
6 parts
- 4.4.0.1. First Class, and until the 18th birthday May not apply Often forgotten
- 4.4.0.1. Dual registration is allowed, one set of records is not optional Recommended May not apply
- 4.4.0.1. Decide who oversees it, with the member May not apply
- 4.4.0.1. Skipper oversees: the ship committee holds Star and Life boards May not apply
- 4.4.0.1. Scoutmaster oversees: the troop committee holds Star and Life boards May not apply
- 4.4.0.1. Ship positions can satisfy position of responsibility May not apply Often forgotten

Stage 4 of 9

3 steps

4.4.1.2. Ordinary rank Milestone

Additional service, knowledge of the Sea Scout emblem, U.S. flag etiquette, and land and sea protocols. Again a description rather than a requirement list; the Guide names several specifics and the Sea Scout Manual holds the rest.

Usually comes after 4.4.1.1. Apprentice rank.
3 parts
4.4.1.5. The Skipper conference Approval

Skippers hold a conference with youth who indicate they are ready to advance to the next rank. The process is similar to that for a Scoutmaster conference at 4.2.3.5.

Usually comes after 4.4.1.1. Apprentice rank.
4.4.1.5. A Sea Scout working on Eagle follows the Eagle procedure May not apply Often forgotten Requirement

Sea Scouts working on the Eagle Scout rank follow the procedures listed in "The Eagle Scout Rank", 9.0.0.0. The Skipper conference is a Sea Scout rank step and does not stand in for anything there.

You have not answered "Is the Sea Scout also working on Scouts BSA advancement?" yet.

Usually comes after 4.4.0.1. Carrying on with Scouts BSA advancement.

Stage 5 of 9

2 steps

4.4.1.3. Able rank Milestone

Sea Scouts master ceremony presentation and demonstrate knowledge of maritime history, with a continued progression in seamanship, boat handling, anchoring, piloting and navigation, and a deeper understanding of maritime environmental issues. A description, not a requirement list.

Usually comes after 4.4.1.2. Ordinary rank.
3 parts
- 4.4.1.3. The Lifesaving merit badge requirements Often forgotten
- 4.4.1.3. The Sea Scout Long Cruise badge Often forgotten
- 4.4.1.3. Teach others, and fulfil leadership responsibilities
4.4.1.5. The application goes to the ship's board of review Approval

Once the conference has taken place and the other requirements for the rank are fulfilled, the application for rank is forwarded to the ship's board of review. The board itself is 4.4.2.0 and has its own plan.

Usually comes after 4.4.1.5. The Skipper conference.

Stage 6 of 9

2 steps

4.4.1.4. Quartermaster rank Milestone

The highest award for Sea Scouts. The candidate must think analytically about how the program is delivered and supported, while developing a deeper understanding of Scouting ideals.

Usually comes after 4.4.1.3. Able rank.
2 parts
- 4.4.1.4. Mostly an intensification of what came before
- 4.4.1.4. The Quartermaster service project
4.4.1.7. The bridge of honour Event

Like a court of honour in Scouts BSA: the forum where awards are presented. It should be impressive and well planned, and is often held in connection with a social affair.

Usually comes after 4.4.1.5. The application goes to the ship's board of review.
1 part
- 4.4.1.7. Present informally first, so recognition is prompt Recommended Often forgotten

Stage 7 of 9

2 steps

4.4.1.4. The workbook, and four approvals Often forgotten Document

Sea Scouts must use the Quartermaster Leadership Service Project Workbook, No. 420-011, available at seascout.org, and secure approval from the Skipper, the ship committee, the project beneficiary, and the council or district advancement committee.

Usually comes after 4.4.1.4. Quartermaster rank.

Four approvals, and one of them is outside the ship. Skipper, ship committee, project beneficiary, and the council or district advancement committee. That last one is the difference from the Venturing Summit project, where 4.3.2.1 says councils and districts play no role in reviewing or approving the project at all.
4.4.1.4.1. Apply for a time extension Optional May not apply Decision

Where a Sea Scout foresees that, through no fault or choice of their own, it will be impossible to complete the Quartermaster requirements before age 21, they may apply to the local council for a limited time extension.

You have not answered "Can the Quartermaster requirements be finished before the 21st birthday?" yet.

Usually comes after 4.4.1.4. Quartermaster rank.
3 parts
- 4.4.1.4.1. The same tests as an Eagle Scout extension May not apply
- 4.4.1.4.1. Keep working while the request is decided May not apply Often forgotten Carry on working while the request is decided. The Guide says so in as many words, and a Sea Scout who downs tools on the day of the application has thrown away however long the decision takes: at an age when there is no more time to find.
- 4.4.1.4.1. Granted only when necessary, and only for Quartermaster May not apply Often forgotten

Stage 8 of 9

1 step

4.4.1.4. Separate and distinct from any Eagle or Summit project Often forgotten Requirement

A youth's Quartermaster, Eagle and Summit service projects must be separate and distinct from each other. The same rule is stated from the other side at 4.4.0.1, 4.3.1.4 and 4.3.2.2.

Usually comes after 4.4.1.4. The workbook, and four approvals.

The one that catches a young person doing well in two programs at once. A Sea Scout who is also a Life Scout, or a Venturer working toward Summit, must run separate projects for each. The Guide states this three times over (here, at 4.4.0.1 and at 4.3.2.2), which is a fair indication of how often it comes up.

Stage 9 of 9

1 step

4.4.1.4.2. The Quartermaster Application Document

The one rank application in Sea Scouts that leaves the ship. Apprentice, Ordinary and Able end at the ship's board of review; Quartermaster goes on from there.

Usually comes after 4.4.1.5. The application goes to the ship's board of review.
3 parts
- 4.4.1.4.2. Approved by the Skipper, the ship committee and the board, then by the district or council Often forgotten Four stages, and the district or council advancement committee approval comes after the board of review rather than before it. A ship that seeks it earlier has the order wrong.
- 4.4.1.4.2. The Scout executive signs, and it goes to the national team
- 4.4.1.4.2. Reported, and the medal is bought locally

This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.