In less than 12 months, four Scouts from local Scouting America Troop 193 have been promoted to the rank of Eagle Scout. This is the Troop's largest group of Scouts to be promoted to Scouting's highest rank in a single year in over a decade.

When a boy becomes a Scout, a new journey with the potential for self-discovery, self-expression, and self-reliance begins. Part of this journey of development includes rank advancement starting with the mastery of knowledge and skills in various subjects including first aid, citizenship, cooking, and others, all of which are verified by senior Scouts, summer camp counselors, and adult leaders.

For the higher ranks of Star, Life, and Eagle, the Scout must demonstrate a command of more in-depth knowledge and advanced skills. Proficiency is symbolized by small round patches known as merit badges.

At present, to reach the rank of Eagle, a Scout must earn a total of 21 of these badges. 13 are required by every Scout aspiring to the rank and take from several days to several months to complete. In addition, a Scout must earn 7 elective merit badges of his choosing from 128 remaining badges.

These selections typically reflect a Scout's personal interests and possibly his future vocational pursuits and include topics as varied as small boat sailing and shotgun shooting, oceanography and orienteering.

In addition to developing skills and earning merit badges, advancement to each rank except the first ("Scout") requires community service. Before reaching the final rank before Eagle ("Life") a Scout must complete a total of 18 service hours in his community.

Finally, to complete the rank of Eagle, the Scout must conceive, plan, and lead his own service project. While this requirement does not dictate the exact nature or scope of the project, on average the Eagle candidate and the volunteers recruited to complete the effort accumulate nearly 200 service hours in bringing the project to fruition.

When considering the time and effort required to reach the rank of Eagle, it's no surprise that just 4% of all Scouts successfully achieve this goal.

Congratulations to Manville's most recent Eagle Scouts!