Scouting brothers Dallin Chapman and Haydn Chapman worked diligently together to complete their community projects and reach the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout for the Scouting of America (previously known as Boy Scouts of America). Dallin, age 17, and Haydn , age 15, have been scouts since they were both 8 years old. The two brothers worked tirelessly to climb up the seven different scout ranks.
Scouts often spend months or even years fulfilling all the necessary requirements needed to achieve the next rank. Both Dallin and Haydn persevered and after all their years of challenging work they succeeded in making it all the way to the Eagle Scout rank . For these two new Eagle Scout achieving this monumental goal was not just about the honor, but about keeping up with a family tradition.
The Chapman family has a family tradition of family members including brothers, cousins and uncles who achieved the Eagle Scout rank too. Haydn mentioned that “On both sides of our family it has been a goal for all the boys to earn their Eagle Scout. My dad got his Eagle Scout, my grandpa has gotten his Eagle Scout, and most of my uncles have gotten their Eagle Scouts. It’s kind of been an ongoing thing for a long time.”
Reaching the Eagle Scout rank takes many years of dedication, hard work, and perseverance. Dallin and Haydn needed to collect 21 merit badges as well as complete their community service projects to earn their Eagle rank. There are 14 required merit badges some of which are First Aid, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Cooking, Personal Fitness, Family Life, Camping, Personal Management, Citizenship in the World, Citizenship in Society and Communication.
For his final project, Dallin noticed the poor conditions of multiple bird houses in the grassy field behind the North Plains Elementary School on Minot AFB. Only 8 out of the 10 bird houses he found were in functioning condition. Many were missing roofs or floors or were barely attached to their stands. After doing more research, he also noticed that the bird houses were not properly spaced apart from one another. Dallin decided to remove the old bird houses completely and replace them with new ones that would be better placed to accommodate the local bird wildlife. He gathered around 20 volunteers to help him build 16 brand new bird houses. The volunteers even added some extra flare by wood burning some designs onto the outside of the new houses.
For his final project, Haydn noticed trash surrounding the grassy area behind the North Plains Elementary School where his brother was fixing the old broken bird houses. His community project included cleaning up the trash, as well as mapping out a nature trail and campsites for families to utilize. The map included placing post markers so that the lawn mowers knew where to make the trail and the 5 open spaces for tent camping that are set up along that half mile trail. Now what was once was a field filled with trash is instead a nice area for the residents of Minot Air Force Base to use.
When asked what the most challenging part was of being a Scout was, Haydn explained that it was often difficult to get people to listen to a leader who was considered young. This is due to the fact that people often believe a younger leader is too inexperienced to know what they are doing. Although he mentioned being an older leader can at times be just as challenging as it isn’t always easy to communicate one’s ideas in a manner that everyone can understand.
Dallin shared that what he found most challenging was “The dedication to stick with it.” Dallin further explained that he has been in the Scouts for almost 10 years now and that “After a little bit, it starts getting tough. Especially once you get into high school because there are a lot of other things that require your attention. So the dedication to stick with Boy Scouts is probably one of the most difficult reasons because usually [most} Scouts will go for the first couple years and then drop out because they need to do other things.”
Dallin explained how he was able to stick with it all these years by saying “Seeing all the hard work and effort that you’ve put in actually goes to valuable life skills. The 21 required Eagle Scout merit badges are not just electives, they are skills that you carry with you throughout life. Right now I am working on the personal management merit badge which is teaching me how to manage finances. There is also the personal fitness merit badge which teaches you how to live a healthy lifestyle.”
Dallin said Scouting has “Taught [me] leadership skills, especially with this Eagle Scout project and with some of the positions that you can hold within Scouting. It teaches you how to manage large groups of people. With this Eagle Scout project I’ve had to organize a time and place for these volunteers to meet and I had to get the supplies. It taught me how to plan it all out. And also, within certain positions in the troop, like patrol leader, you manage a smaller group of scouts and you get to work with them and learn how to be a leader.” Haydn added that he noticed himself “Stepping up whether it be in school or church where they asked for things to get done but no one is moving around because they don’t know what to do. I will find myself stepping up and helping to guide people, because that’s what we are here to do as leaders. We are not there to tell them what to do. We’re there to be by their side and help guide them.”
Haydn and Dallin’s father , Col. George Chapman, has been a huge help in them being able to get their projects done. Haydn said that their dad “has been a really big helper in us getting this done. He is the one that showed us this area and he helped get us in contact with people to get things done. He’s been there to push us to do what needs to happen and help support us through the way.”
Congratulations to the Minot AFB’s newest Eagle Scouts, Haydn and Dallin Chapman!
Thanks for all your hard work and dedication to our community!
