Alameda Native Earns Historic Eagle Scout Status

Jill Proffitt Michael Proffitt earned all 137 Boy Scout merit badges, a feat accomplished by less than one percent of scouts.

Alameda Native Earns Historic Eagle Scout Status

Alameda native Michael Proffitt will have his Eagle Court of Honor ceremony on Wednesday, June 29, at the Alameda Elks Lodge 1015 after a two-year delay.

Proffitt, who graduated from St. Joseph Notre Dame in 2020, was required to earn 21 merit badges on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout — the highest rank in Boy Scouts. Just 2.25 million boys have achieved Eagle rank since the award was first presented in 1912.

But Proffitt, who just completed his second year at Oregon State University, joined an even more exclusive group when he earned all of Scouting’s available merit badges, currently 137, a feat achieved by fewer than 450 boys in the history of the organization, according to meritbadgeknot.com, an unofficial but authoritative site that tracks the achievement. On average, there are 800,000 enrolled in scouting annually and approximately six percent earn Eagle Scouts status and just 0.02% of those Eagle Scouts earn all merit badges.

From the Lost Coast Trail of Northern California to the Great Barrier Reef, Proffitt logged more than 2,074 leadership days, 259 miles hiked, 119 overnight camp nights, 145 service hours, 50 underwater scuba hours for advanced scuba certification, more than 400 merit badge class hours and 16 bugle calls learned.

For Proffitt’s Eagle project he gave back to the Alameda Baseball Little League fields he grew up on for seven years where he built and installed 64 equipment cubbies in the dugouts for the major and minor baseball fields. The project required many different teams, staged production and labor outings. The negotiations with the local Alameda Little League association, private businesses and various skilled craftsmen pulled off a project on time, under budget and received unanimous accolades.

Proffitt also earned many of his badges off the Island. He traveled to Nevada, West Virginia and North Carolina in his pursuit of his goal. He attended the Las Vegas Merit Badge Expo in 2017 and 2018 as well as a day class at the University of Nevada School of Dentistry in 2016. He also attended the 2017 National Jamboree in West Virginia where he received Exploration and Mining in Society merit badges. Proffitt made an exclusive trip to North Carolina just for Farm Mechanics and Skating merit badges.

Proffitt traveled far north to Redding for Model, Design and Building badges and to San Diego for Oceanography on the Star of India badges. Seven of these merit badges were earned on the USS Hornet. He attended five different Boy Scout Summer Camps multiple times.

Proffitt was inducted into the Order of the Arrow in 2018. The Order of the Arrow is the National Honor Society of the Boy Scouts of America, composed of Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers.

Proffitt earned his last badge in April 2020. His ceremony was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and being away for college.

Proffitt is a member of Troop 1015, sponsored by the Alameda Elks Lodge. The ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. The Alameda Elks Lodge 1015 is located at 2255 Santa Clara Ave.