Woodward, Okla. — David Sauls, 52, is an agent for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation; his son Garrett, 20, is majoring in marketing and business administration at Oklahoma State University and Greg Waggoner, 37, is a pharmacist.

What do these three men have in common other than their connection to Woodward?

They’re all Eagle Scouts.

And all of them say that being an Eagle Scout has its advantages.

According to Waggoner, the Eagle rank looks good on a resume, college application and helps win scholarships for college applicants.

“If an Eagle Scout decides to go into the military, he gets an automatic pay grade increase,” he said.

Sauls said, “it’s a process of developing ethics and values, understanding duty and God."

“It teaches you about honor what honor really is,” Sauls said.

When someone becomes an Eagle Scout, "you’re expected to continue to do things for your community, your country, your fellow man and your honor,” he added.

Sauls cited times when his Eagle rank proved worthwhile. When a bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, his Eagle training helped him mentally as he uncovered bodies while helping clear away the rubble.

The training was also valuable when he helped victims of a tornado.

The thing about becoming an Eagle Scout is “you’ve been prepared,” he said.

But while there are perks to having achieved the Eagle rank, it’s an honor that requires dedication, help from the community and careful planning, Waggoner said.

“Eagle Scout is the highest rank the Boy Scouts offers,” Waggoner said. “You have to earn 21 badges from age 11 and up, starting with when you enter the Boy Scouts."

To become an Eagle Scout, you must first be a Scout, a Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Life Scout, then Eagle Scout, Waggoner said.

Eagle Scout is earned by taking on a major project that demonstrates leadership of others and provides service to a worthy institution other than the Boy Scouts, such as a religious institution, school or the community at large, according to the Eagle Scout website, eaglescout.org/project/eagleprj.html.

Waggoner, for his project, helped establish a Toys for Tots program in Woodward during the Christmas season in 1986.

“I put boxes out at different stores to collect toys, picked up toys that were to be cleaned, and set them up at the fair barns,” he said. “It involved planning, organizing other kids in the troop to help out. The idea of the Eagle project is to get the Eagle Scout to do all the leg work behind the scenes and direct it, to see it through.”

The Scout is already prepared to do this through earning merit badges that teach what it means to be a good citizen locally, on the national level and worldwide, Waggoner said. You also must earn a communications badge where you learn to speak in public and do written presentations. Other merit badges include first aid and emergency preparedness.

“You can earn the badges at any time, but they must be earned before becoming an Eagle Scout,” Waggoner said, noting he was 14-years-old when he earned the Eagle rank.

Because of his age, “I didn’t realize it at the time, but you realize later in life how much you did learn and how much it actually prepares you for everyday life,” Waggoner said.

To earn the Eagle Scout rank, “you have to stay with the Eagle project,” he said, noting, “it takes perseverance and the scouting program does a really good job of building character. Eagle Scout is the ultimate goal of that.”

Sauls was an Eagle Scout in the early 1970s. He achieved the Eagle rank in high school, completing a goal he’d been working toward since he was 6-years-old and a Cub Scout in 1963.

For his Eagle project, Sauls cleared a city lot in Kellyville that was covered in broken down walls and made the property viable for constructing new buildings.

“City offices are there now,” he said.

Sauls’ son, Garrett,  20, completed his Eagle Scout project when he was 13. For his project Sauls put together and distributed 7,000 emergency preparedness packages for Woodward County, working with a local emergency planning committee.

“I know the actual amount of man hours compiled to do that was over 1,000 hours,” Garrett said. “It took quite a while -- days after school at the sheriff’s office putting together the packets. It took a couple of months.”

Before starting the project, he had to come up with the idea.

“It can be whatever you want it to be as long as it benefits the community,” Garrett said.  “I do know an Eagle Scout followed up on the project, went around and surveyed the storm shelters.”

As part of the survey, the Scout did a GPS of all the storm shelters and gave them to a local planning committee, Sauls said.

“Now the data is stored on where the storm shelters are and where people might be in the event of an emergency,” he said.

As for the Eagle Scout program, “I definitely would recommend it,” Garrett said. 

“I’m definitely reaping the benefits of it today. You don’t realize the benefit until you’re older and get into college,” he said.

“Eagle Scouts are the most hard working and driven individuals,” he said. “It’s a process of becoming a well-balanced man. Obviously, they’ve proven through their Eagle Scout (rank) that they’re hard-working individuals.”