Think your Sea Scout ship is the best? Apply for the National Flagship Award

Does your Sea Scout ship rule the seas (or rivers or lakes)?

Prove it by applying for the annual Sea Scout National Flagship Award. When doing so, have your Sea Scouts use the new and improved application process outlined below.

Each year since 2002, the Sea Scout committee has selected one ship to be the National Flagship. Winning ships receive a special flag and a patch for members’ uniforms.

Past recipients have represented coastal and landlocked councils. The 2015 winner, for example, was from the Dallas area, proving that even those ships far from the ocean have a shot.

For maximum points, be sure it’s the youth — not the adults — who complete your ship’s application.

National Flagship Award application process

There’s a new application process for 2017 and beyond. Incomplete or old applications won’t be considered.

Essentially, the application process involves sharing everything your ship accomplished from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 in a given year. The application deadline is March 31 of the following year.

For example: The next deadline, March 31, 2018, will consider your ship’s accomplishments in calendar year 2017.

Scoring is completed on a point system. There are 100 points available, and they break down like this:

  • 15 points: Youth perspective and preparation. Did the youth, not the adults, prepare the application?
  • 10 points: Journey to Excellence evaluation. How’s your ship’s JTE score?
  • 15 points: Advancement and recognition. How many Sea Scouts earned awards like Quartermaster or completed training?
  • 20 points: On-water activities. Did your ship spend a lot of time on the water?
  • 10 points: Collaborative and mentoring activities. Did you participate in a lot of council, regional or national activities?
  • 10 points: Community service. How much did you give back?
  • 15 points: Recruiting. What did you do to recruit or retain Sea Scouts?
  • 5 points: Leader development. Did your adult volunteers get trained?

Three things to include in your application

Here’s what you need to send by email to seascouts@scouting.org:

  • Completed scoresheet, which you can download here.
  • Photograph of ship members in uniform.
  • Written narrative, presentation or video to help support your story. (Whatever form you choose to use, it must be accessible via a single URL on the internet: it could be a YouTube video, a Google Slides or PowerPoint presentation, a web page or site, or any other form that can be accessed from a web browser.)

For questions, call 972-580-2448.


About Bryan Wendell 3281 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.