The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA) is a distinguished service award of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

(BSA). It is awarded to an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle S ...

for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years after attaining the level of Eagle Scout. Other requirements include significant accomplishment in one's career and a solid record of continued community volunteer involvement. It is one of only two BSA awards given to adults that is dependent upon the recipient's having been awarded Eagle Scout as a youth; the other is the

NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award The NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award (NOESA) is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is awarded to an Eagle Scout by the National Eagle Scout Association for distinguished service to his profession and communit ...

(NOESA). Recipients of the DESA are known as Distinguished Eagle Scouts.

Award

The award consists of a gold eagle suspended from a red, white, and blue ribbon worn around the neck. Recipients may wear a small gold eagle device on the Eagle Scout square knot on the Scout uniform. The neck ribbon and medallion is the same design as the Eagle Scout medal. The Distinguished Eagle Scout medal is worn in place of the regular Eagle Scout medal for Eagle Scout-related ceremonies. The recipient is also presented with an engraved bronze plaque featuring a gold eagle.

History

The DESA was first introduced in 1969 and is awarded by the National Eagle Scout Association. Prior to the establishment of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, a "gold Eagle Scout badge" was awarded to

Daniel Carter Beard Daniel Carter "Uncle Dan" Beard (June 21, 1850 – June 11, 1941) was an American illustrator, author, youth leader, Georgist and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of Am ...

at the Second National Training Conference of Scout Executives held in 1922 in Blue Ridge, North Carolina. This was the only time this gold badge was awarded. The DESA does not have a clear order of issue like the numbers assigned to each NOESA recipient, though the majority have a date of rank as a Distinguished Eagle recorded. On January 16, 1969 the first ten DESAs were approved. Alphabetically, Alden G. Barber is the first DESA recipient. Based upon the date of the original Eagle Scout rank, Zenon C.R. Hansen, who earned Eagle Scout in 1921, is the first. Of the nine Eagle Scouts who received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

for valor in combat, five were eligible for the DESA (four received the MOH posthumously and are therefore not eligible). Of those five, three have been awarded the DESA:

Mitchell Paige Mitchell Paige(Mihajlo Pejić) (August 31, 1918 – November 15, 2003) was an American-Serbian retired United States Marine Corps colonel who received the nation's highest military decoration for valor in combat, the Medal of Honor, during W ...

, Leo K. Thorsness, and

Thomas R. Norris Thomas Rolland Norris (born January 14, 1944) is a retired United States Navy SEAL and Distinguished Eagle Scout who received the Medal of Honor for his ground rescue with the assistance of Petty Officer Third Class Nguyen Van Kiet of two downed ...

. The other two died in 2007 without a DESA nomination being processed. Col. Paige died in 2003 and Col. Thorsness in 2017, leaving Norris as the only living Eagle/DESA Medal of Honor recipient. Of the 24 men who traveled to the Moon, three were Eagle Scouts:

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

Jim Lovell James Arthur Lovell Jr. (; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of th ...

, and

Charles Duke Charles Moss Duke Jr. (born October 3, 1935) is an American former astronaut, United States Air Force (USAF) officer and test pilot. As Lunar Module pilot of Apollo 16 in 1972, he became the tenth and youngest person to walk on the Moon, at ...

. All three were awarded the DESA. Armstrong and Lovell are also among the 28 recipients of the

Congressional Space Medal of Honor The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress in 1969 to recognize "any astronaut who in the performance of his or her duties has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and con ...

and both also received the

Silver Buffalo Award The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting pro ...

Recipients

Charles Metcalf DESA ceremony-other Eagle Scouts

References

External links

* {{Scouting Advancement and recognition in the Boy Scouts of America Long service medals