Boy Scout Troop 15 / Eagle Scout Gerald "Junior" Ford

In 1918, eight years after the Boy Scouts of America incorporated, Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church chartered Boy Scout Troop 15 with a membership of twenty-six boys. The troop number changed to 215 in the 1940s. Among its alumni is Roger B. Chaffee (1935-1967), who achieved Eagle Scout rank in 1951. After graduating from Purdue University, he became a Naval officer and astronaut. He died while training for the Apollo 1 space mission. Eagle Scout Gerald "Junior" Ford Gerald “Junior” Ford joined Boy Scout Troop 15 in 1925 at the age of twelve. Guided by Scoutmaster Charles M. Kindel, Ford achieved Eagle Scout rank in 1927. He was in the first Governor’s Honor Guard of Eagle Scouts to serve at Fort Mackinac. He often singled out scouting as a major influence throughout his life. In 1973 Ford became the first Eagle Scout to be vice-president of the United States and, in 1974, the first to become president.