Merit Badge Auto-Placement
Crediting Merit Badges to the appropriate ranks can be confusing. In fact, Merit Badge placement is probably the most misunderstood BSA advancement rule for advancement chairs across the country. Our unique, 'Best-Placement' routine takes the guesswork out of crediting merit badges to follow the advancement rules while ensuring all badges are placed in the best possible arrangement to promote quicker rank advancement.
As merit badges are entered for each scout, TroopMaster automatically sorts the badges chronologically and then places them according to the advancement rules. Earning additional Eagle badges on the earlier ranks will allow room for more non-eagle badges later on while still completing all 13 categories of badges. Completing multiple Eagle badges from the same category on Star and Life (e.g., Swimming, Cycling and Hiking) is perfectly fine but the scout will still need to complete all 13 categories of badges before obtaining Eagle. The program automatically monitors this and will ensure enough open slots are available on the Eagle rank for completion of all 13 categories of badges.
Star
Six merit badges are required for Star, with at least four of them being from the Eagle required list. For this requirement, the scout can choose from ANY of the 17 Eagle required badges on the list*:
Camping, Citizenship in Community, Citizenship in Nation, Citizenship in World, Communications, Cooking, Cycling, Emergency Preparedness, Environmental Science, Family Life, First Aid, Hiking, Lifesaving, Personal Fitness, Personal Management, Sustainability, and Swimming.
Life
Five additional merit badges are required for Life (for a total of 11 badges). At least three of these must be from the Eagle required list (or a minimum total of seven Eagle required badges between Star and Life). For this requirement, the scout can choose from ANY of the 17 Eagle required badges on the list*:
Camping, Citizenship in Community, Citizenship in Nation, Citizenship in World, Communications, Cooking, Cycling, Emergency Preparedness, Environmental Science, Family Life, First Aid, Hiking, Lifesaving, Personal Fitness, Personal Management, Sustainability, Swimming.
Eagle
Ten additional merit badges are required for Eagle (for a total of 21 badges). Merit Badges for Eagle must include at least one badge from each of the 13 categories included in the Eagle merit badge list*:
1. Camping
2. Citizenship in Community
3. Citizenship in Nation
4. Citizenship in World
5. Communications
6. Cooking
7. Cycling, Hiking, or Swimming
8. Emergency Preparedness or Lifesaving
9. Environmental Science or Sustainability
10. Family Life
11. First Aid
12. Personal Fitness
13. Personal Management
Palms
Five additional merit badges are required for each Palm. Any merit badge from the complete list of merit badges may be used for this requirement.
*The list of available Eagle badges still remaining is easily viewable from the Star, Life, or Eagle rank screen (as well as the Individual Progress report) to make it clear exactly which badges can be selected for completion of this requirement.