To become a member of the Order of the Arrow, a Boy Scout or Varsity Scout is chosen by vote of his unit members that are under 21. Lodge members in the unit have a vote as well as none-members. It is important that the members of the unit have the membership requirements explained to them. Elections may be held in Troops and Teams ONLY. To be a member of OA, a person must remain registered in a troop or team.

Youth

Registered Active Member. In BSA Troops and Varsity Teams every registered active member of the unit under the age of 21 at the time of the election is eligible to vote. A Scout (of a troop or team) that carries a current national membership card and participates in at least some unit activities during the year is considered to be a registered active member of the unit.

15 Nights of camping. You must camp within the last 18 months 15 nights of camping. This requires 6 NIGHTS on an extended trip and 9 NIGHTS otherwise. Simply put, a youth must go to philmont, or PV, but he cannot count both if he did both to be eligible for OA. Also, the camping nights must be with Scouting.

1st class. A scout must be first class, and present himself in a proper Scout Uniform

Scoutmaster Approval. A scout must be deemed ready by his scoutmaster for the challenges of OA.

Adults

Adults are the same as youth with few distinctions. Read the Youth requirements first. These are suplements.
Committee Reconmendation. An adult must be 21 or older at the time of his reconmendation. The Parent's Committee will meet and determine if he is ready for the challenges OA will present to him, and NOMINATE HIM. There is no rank involved for adults, and adults may be females. However, Adults are reconmended. They aren't elected like the youth. They are nominated, and then reviewed by a committee.

One nomination per troop. For most troops, only one adult may be nominated for each trop. However for each troop over 50, 1 extra adult may be nominated. So, in a troop of 51, 2 adults; in a troop of 101 youth, 3 adults.

ALL ELECTIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED TO THE COUNCIL OFFICE BY APRIL 1, OR THE FIRST BUSINESS DAY FOLLOWING.

You are viewing pages in the Program Section