Joe Legault and Peter Veltigian are part of an elite group.

On June 13, these young men, members of Troop 366, formally advanced to the rank of Eagle Scout during a joint Court of Honor ceremony held at Oxford United Methodist Church.

“It’s a great achievement,” Veltigian said. “When I started high school, my parents said they wouldn’t necessarily throw me a graduation party, but they would most certainly throw me a party if I made Eagle Scout.”

“It’s a big step,” Legault said. “I’ve been in scouts for the majority of my life. It feels like a major chapter is finished.”

Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scout program.

Only about 5 percent of all Boy Scouts earn this coveted rank, according to the National Eagle Scout Association.

Between 1912 and 2016, more than 2.4 million young men became Eagle Scouts. A total of 55,186 acquired the rank last year and of those, 1,266 were from Michigan, according to a blog by Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout and senior editor of Boys’ Life, Scouting and Eagles’ Call magazines.

To become an Eagle Scout, a young man must reach the rank of Life Scout; serve six months in a position of responsibility with the troop; earn 21 merit badges (there are 137 available); and successfully complete an Eagle Scout board of review. A scout must also plan, develop and provide leadership for a service project that helps a religious organization, school or community.

“It’s something you have to work for, but you do feel a sense of accomplishment when you earn it,” Veltigian said. “I can guarantee that.”

Veltigian was a third-grader at Oxford Elementary School when he began his scouting career.

“It’s taught me a lot about leadership, sticking to goals and dealing with conflicts,” he said. “It gave me a lot of opportunities and experiences I wouldn’t have normally had in other programs. I’m glad I got to do this.”

In addition to becoming an Eagle Scout, Veltigian was valedictorian for Oxford High School’s Class of 2017 and received the Oxford Athletic Department’s Scholar Athlete Award on May 21. He lettered in both lacrosse and wrestling.

Veltigian will attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland this fall. He’s planning a career in the navy.

“I’d really like to be in naval intelligence or cyber operations,” he said.

Legault began his scouting career during his elementary school years at Kingsbury Country Day School in Addison Township.

“You start out doing it to hang out with friends, then you stay for everything it teaches you,” he said. “I really enjoyed the camping part of it.”

From outdoor skills to leadership, Legault, who will begin his senior year at OHS this fall, believes “pretty much everything” he’s learned through scouting can be applied to life.

Being a scout taught him how to solve problems, improvise and adapt, things he feels will help him as he pursues a career in engineering.

“It does teach some pretty valuable stuff and it can be fun,” Legault said.

Legault is also grateful to scouting for exposing him to more people and widening his social circle. During his days at Kingsbury, he said the largest group of students in the same class was 14.

“It was a pretty small school,” Legault said.

He enjoys being part of Troop 366 and values the friendships he’s forged with his fellow scouts over the years.

“It’s really a pretty good group,” Legault said.