Life to Eagle

(Updated February 2025)

Contact Eagle Project Coach or Scoutmaster with any questions, any time.

First things first ... Do these few steps before you do anything else
  1. Visit the Life to Eagle page on the District website and review all the documentation starting with the guidelines and working your way down
  2. Specifically, make sure you completely read these two documents before doing or asking anything else:

Scoutmaster: Michael Daniel

Troop Committee Chair: Ron Brooke

Troop Eagle Project Coach: Mike Park

Advancement Coordinator: James Mobley

Advancement Records Coordinator: Karen Mankin

Eagle Scout Service Project Process:
  1. Solidify your project idea
  2. Contact our Troop Eagle Project Coach to discuss your idea and confirm it qualifies for an Eagle project
  3. Contact your beneficiary to confirm that the project meets with their approval
  4. When you and Troop Eagle Project Coach think you have enough substance to your project, document your proposal in the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook starting on page 8. Send copies of this to both Project Coach and Scoutmaster. Fill out all but Contact Info Page and signature page (see below, steps 6.1 and 8).
  5. Review this with Scoutmaster and get their agreement that your project concept is good and your project write-up is good
  6. After Scoutmaster's review and agreement, send a PDF copy of your workbook to Project Coach so they can make sure it meets all the requirements that the District Eagle Board will look for.
    1. You will need the information for the Contact Information page (Proposal Page B). The contact information page has personal information on it so we cannot post it all here. To get the information send the Advancement Coordinator an email and they will send you the necessary information
    2. For starters, here is some of the information:
      1. Unit Leader: Michael Daniel
      2. Unit Committee Chair: Ron Brooke
      3. Unit Advancement Coordinator: Jim Mobley
      4. Your Council Service Center: Marriott Service Center, 301-530-9360, 9190 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814
      5. Council or District Project Approval Representative: Len Wales
      6. Project Coach: Mike Park
  7. After Project Coach’s review, make any needed updates
  8. Start the signature process for your proposal. All signatures must be on the same physical page--visit the first three people to get those signatures instead of emailing.
    1. Your Sponsor
    2. Scoutmaster
    3. Troop Committee Chair
    4. Len Wales - District Eagle Board Representative. Advancement Coordinator will introduce you via email to Len Wales. Do not contact him on your own. Once you have all three other signatures, contact Advancement Coordinator and he will send an introductory email to Mr Wales. Once introduced via email, you will email Mr. Wales a copy of your Proposal. He will review and will likely give you permission to proceed via email. Print and insert a copy of that email after the signature page in the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook when assembling your binder. Mr. Wales will provide a formal signature at your Eagle Scout Board of Review.
  9. After all signatures are obtained, complete the detailed Project Plan in the project workbook and get approval on that from Scoutmaster. Email approval is acceptable. Attach it to the back of your Project Plan.
  10. After you get the okay on your Project Plan, contact Scoutmaster to schedule the project on the Troop calendar. Write up emails to send to the Troop and create sign-up pages. 
  11. Finish your project.
  12. After your project is complete, complete the Project Report in the workbook. Send to Scoutmaster for review. Get signatures from your beneficiary and sign it yourself.
  13. Assemble your binder as described below, including the ESRA
Eagle Scout Rank Application (ESRA) Process:
  1. Download a copy of your Individual Advancement Summary from Scoutbook. You can find this form under the Reports tab.  (If you do not have access to Scoutbook you can request a copy of the form from the Advancement Records Coordinator, but you really should be able to do this for yourself on Scoutbook--it will make your life a lot easier when it comes the ESRA.)
  2. IF the name on that Advancement Summary is NOT how you want your Eagle Scout certificate and other documentation to appear, contact Advancement Coordinator IMMEDIATELY to notify them of the change. This can take a while and your ESRA will need to match your name in Advancement Summary
  3. Download a copy of your Eagle Application from Scoutbook. Scoutbook will generate the form and automatically fill in most of the information. If you do not have access to Scoutbook, work hard to get access. If you still can not get access to Scoutbook, Google "Eagle Scout Rank Application" and download the most recent form. If you do it this way you will need to fill in the form, including all merit badges in the correct order and format. Be sure you are using the January 2025 version of the ESRA (most recent version as of this update).
  4. Both the NCAC and Chain Bridge/Four Mile Run Documents referenced above walk you through every step of filling out the ESRA. Use these guides!
  5. Additionally, use the NCAC Pre-certification Requirements document to guide your filling out of the ESRA. It has a simple checklist.
  6. Please note the ESRA has to be 100% perfectly filled out to be accepted for pre-certification by NCAC. Delays will affect pre-certification, which will affect Board of Review scheduling.
  7. You are now ready to fill out the ESRA.
    1. Important note: leave no blank spaces. Use N/A where appropriate
    2. For name, use the name that appears in your Advancement Summary, even though it asks for full legal name. See ESRA Step 1 above for name changes.
    3. For "Date became a Scout" use one day BEFORE your earned your Scout Rank (after verifying that the date that appears on your Advancement Report is correct and not after you earned your first merit badge). Using this date this will always be correct. 
    4. Requirement #2 - you must list 4 references. You must contact the references yourself and ask them to send their reference to the Advancement coordinator, via email or standard mail.
    5. Requirement #3 - enter your merit badges per your advancement report. 
    6. Requirement #4 - If one leadership position was held for a total of 6 months then mark the 2nd position with an N/A. If you served for longer than 6 months, don't enter a longer time period, enter exactly 6 months from start to end of position. If two leadership positions were held, the total should equal six months: no more, no less.
    7. After Requirement #6, remember to provide the requested statement of your life ambitions AND a listing of positions held in your religious institution, school, camp, or other organizations during which you exhibited leadership. Also include a list of honors and awards you received while a Scout. These can be from Scouting, school or from other things. This is described with examples in the Chain Bridge/Four Mile Run District Life to Eagle Guidelines
    8. Remember to sign your application
    9. Once you have the entire ESRA filled out and ready to go, send a copy of it to Scoutmaster to review. Remember to include the essay and a copy of your advancement report.
    10. Scoutmaster will ensure that everything is 100% correct and ready for pre-certification. Make any required changes.
    11. Assemble into a 3-ring binder your:
      * ESRA
      * advancement report
      * statement of life purpose
      * list of awards
      * Eagle Scout project worksheet (all three sections including emails mentioned above
      * Please decorate the cover and spine, making sure you have your name, Troop 149 and your BSA ID on it.
    12. Request a SM Conference from Scoutmaster. Bring your binder and your Scout book. Upon successful completion of the conference, make sure Scoutmaster signs your ESRA, your Project Report (you should sign too) and your Scout Handbook.
    13. Bring binder with all signatures to Committee Chair.
    14. Committee Chair will do a final check of everything, sign your ESRA and then pass it to Advancement Coordinator, who will request pre-certification approval.
    15. Deliver your binder with all the signatures to the Advancement Coordinator, who will request pre-certification approval.
    16. Once pre-certification approval is received on your ESRA, your Eagle Scout Board of Review can be scheduled. It can take some time to coordinate everyone's availability.
    17. Upon successful completion of your Board of Review, your ESRA will be signed by the Board of Review Chair and the Chain Bridge/Four Mile Run District Eagle Board Representative. Your ESRA is complete. Advancement Coordinator will be the Eagle Board Chai and Mr. Wales is generally the District Eagle Board Representative. Others generally comprise the other Eagle Board members. 
    18. You are now an Eagle Scout!
    19. Your Eagle paperwork will be sent to NCAC electronically. It takes about 3 to 4 weeks to get the final approvals and for your awards to be ready. During that time an Eagle Scout Court of Honor may be scheduled if desired.