Ron, in 1924 at the age of 13 became the youngest Eagle Scout in America.

1922-1923:
Ron moves north to Puget Sound in Washington State. He joins the Boy Scouts of America in April 1923. As a member of Tacoma Troop 31, he becomes a Second Class Scout on 8 May and two months later, on 5 July, advances to First Class Scout.

In October, Harry Ross Hubbard receives orders to report to the nation’s capital. Ron and his parents board the USS Ulysses S. Grant on 1 November 1923 and sail to New York from San Francisco through the recently opened Panama Canal. They then journey to Washington, DC. During this voyage, Ron meets Commander Joseph “Snake” Thompson, who has recently returned from Vienna where he studied with Sigmund Freud. Through the course of their friendship, the commander spends many an afternoon in the Library of Congress teaching the young Hubbard what he knows of the human mind.

By 11 December 1923, Ron, now part of Washington’s Boy Scout Troop 10, earns three merit badges.