Trail to Eagle
Alternatives to BSA Eagle Required Badges
Swimming: A Test of Fear, Not Just Skill
Swimming isn’t just a technique. It’s a rite of passage. It demands:
- Comfort in deep water
- Mastery of multiple strokes
- Endurance and breath control
- Overcoming fear
It’s one of the few badges that still tests courage in the body, not just knowledge in the head.
Alternatives are Hiking and Cycling
They are legitimate challenges. But not full substitutes for Swimming.
- They can be done solo
- They don’t require confidence
- They are easy skills compared to Swimming.
- Can be completed in controlled environments
They’re physical, but not primal. They don’t test fear. They don’t require extensive training. They don’t demand trust in others.
On the other hand, hiking is such a fundamental Scout skill that it should be Eagle-required. As well as Swimming, not instead of it.
The Moral Edge – Lifesaving Builds on Swimming
- Includes risk to self in the service of others
- Judgment under pressure
- Physical contact with a panicked victim
- The will to act when others freeze
It’s not just about water. It’s about moral readiness. And yet, it can now be replaced with Emergency Preparedness: a badge heavy on planning, light on action.
The public assumes an Eagle Scout can swim. And do water rescue. Now optional.
Environmental Science vs. Sustainability
- Environmental Science is observational, field-based, and rooted in ecology.
- Sustainability is abstract, policy-oriented, and often classroom-bound.
Both have value. But only one puts the Scout in the woods with a notebook and questions.
“A boy is not a sitting-down animal.” — Baden-Powell
The Application as Obstacle
The BSA has made the Eagle application a technical gauntlet, rewarding adult mastery over youth initiative.
- Complexity replaces clarity; formatting becomes a rite of passage.
- Board members gain reputations for knowing obscure rules.
- Troop committees counter by coaching Scouts how to to “pre-correct” their applications.
- Eagle prepratory training features slide decks of “do this, not that”.
- Example: “Merit badges must be listed in the order earned”. A rule with no moral or developmental rationale.
I noticed that the Scouts walking away from the Eagle application class were downright depressed rather than spirited.
I was deeply concerned with completing Eagle before my 18th birthday. But the application itself held no anxiety in the 60’s. Should it?
Troop Eagle Trackers
Spreadsheet-style progress charts treat advancement as a checklist marathon. A Scouter, perhaps the advancement chair, maintains an exact record of each Scout’s merit badges and advises what to take next. Thus, releasing the Scout from any need to chart his own course or show initiative. Is this Scouting?