Membership
Being elected into the Order of the Arrow is something your fellow Scouts decide. What comes after is a lifetime of fellowship, service, and leadership.
An honor your fellow Scouts give you
The Order of the Arrow is Scouting America’s National Honor Society. Members are not appointed and they do not apply — they are elected by the Scouts they camp with, because those Scouts have watched them live the Scout Oath and Law when nobody asked them to.
Election is the beginning, not the reward. What follows is an induction weekend, a lodge full of people who will become some of the closest friends a Scout has, and years of chances to serve, lead, and travel further into Scouting than most members ever get to.
From election to Brotherhood
Select a stage to see what happens, who runs it, and what a new member or parent should expect.
Election
The Scouts in your unit vote. A team from your lodge visits a troop, crew, or ship meeting, explains what the Order is, and runs a secret ballot. Any eligible candidate named on at least half the ballots returned is elected.
Order of the Arrow, Scouting America · 2026 National Planning MeetingCallout
Newly elected candidates are recognized in front of their peers at a callout ceremony — often at summer camp, a camporee, or a council event. It is the first time most families see the Order in person.
The Ordeal
The induction weekend. Candidates spend a weekend at camp doing service work, spending time in reflection, and taking part in the induction ceremony. Completing it makes a Scout an Ordeal member of the Order.
Order of the Arrow, Scouting America · OA Trail Crew, PhilmontLife as an Arrowman
Membership starts here rather than ending here. Lodge meetings, service weekends, conclaves, high adventure, and the chance to be elected to lodge office — most of what the Order offers happens after induction.
Order of the Arrow, Scouting America · NOAC 2024Brotherhood
After at least six months as an active Ordeal member, a Scout may choose to seal their membership by completing Brotherhood. It is a deliberate step a member takes for themselves, not a promotion someone hands them.
What membership opens up
Most of what the Order offers is not available anywhere else in Scouting. Some of it is not available to youth anywhere else at all.
Order of the Arrow, Scouting America · OA Trail Crew, PhilmontOA High Adventure
Members-only programs at Philmont, Northern Tier, the Summit Bechtel Reserve, and Sea Base — built around trail crew and service, at a fraction of the cost of a standard trek.
Order of the Arrow, Scouting America · NOAC 2024National & section events
NOAC brings thousands of Arrowmen together on a university campus. Closer to home, section conclaves put your lodge alongside its neighbours every year.
Order of the Arrow, Scouting America · 2025 National Council of ChiefsLeadership training
NLS, DYLC, and NLATS are advanced leadership courses developed for the Order — the kind of training most Scouts never get access to.
Order of the Arrow, Scouting America · OA Trail Crew, PhilmontService to camp & community
Arrowmen give hundreds of thousands of service hours a year, most of it to the council camps that made their own Scouting possible.
Order of the Arrow, Scouting America · 2023 Operation ArrowA lodge that stays with you
The friendships made on a service weekend tend to outlast the badge. This is the part members talk about thirty years later.
Order of the Arrow, Scouting America · 2026 National Planning MeetingElected youth office
Lodges and sections are led by youth who are elected to their positions and genuinely run the program, with adults advising rather than directing.
A network that follows you
Arrowmen turn up in every state and most professions. Members regularly find that connection open doors well after they age out.
Your questions, answered plainly
There is an induction fee and annual lodge dues. Both are set locally, and they are modest compared with most Scouting activities. Financial assistance is commonly available — ask, it is a normal request.
Set by your lodgeThe induction is a single weekend at camp. After that, participation is genuinely up to your Scout — some attend one event a year, others are at camp monthly.
One weekend to startInduction weekends are run by trained leaders under Scouting America’s youth protection policies, with the same medical and supervision standards as any council camp event.
Youth protection appliesService projects that improve the camp, periods of quiet reflection, sleeping outdoors, and a ceremony. Nothing hazing-like, nothing hidden from parents — your lodge will describe the weekend in advance.
Ask your lodge for detailsIs my Scout eligible?
Candidates must meet the national requirements below at the time of their unit’s election. A Scout who is not eligible this year is very often eligible the next — the camping requirement is the one most Scouts are still working toward.
Running an election, or need the mechanics for your unit or lodge? That lives in Lodge Support → Unit elections.
Find your lodge
There is a lodge in every council — over 230 of them. Yours has the dates, the fees, and the people who will run your Scout’s induction weekend.