The Pentagon is again threatening to sever ties with Scouting America unless the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America reverts to “core values” and realigns itself with service to “God and country”.
A warning to end the US military’s longstanding partnership with one of the nation’s largest and most popular youth organizations came in a Monday night post to social media by the Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, who insisted the scouting movement “lost its way” in a 2025 rebrand that promoted inclusivity and included admitting girls and LBGTQ+ members.
Donald Trump’s defense department under its head, Pete Hegseth, has previously railed against being “woke” in the US military, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, and suggested that women lack the physical strength to be effective combat troops.
Hegseth first proposed withdrawing government support for the scouting movement in a memo to Congress in November. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that a separate draft memo outlining the plan has been circulating in recent days.
Parnell’s post said the department had conducted a months-long review of its relationship with Scouting America, and would continue logistical and financial support “as long as the organization rapidly implements … common-sense, core value reforms”.
“For more than a decade now, Scouting America’s leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values of this administration and this Department of War, including an embrace of DEI and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances. This is unacceptable,” Parnell wrote, using the Trump administration’s unofficial new name for the defense department.
The post hinted that the department had secured Scouting America’s acquiescence by threatening to withdraw support for its national gathering of up to 20,000 scouts and leaders in July, an event that has traditionally benefited from US military members providing logistics, medical care and security.
“Our review of the [the ‘Department of War’s’] financial assistance and partnership with Scouting America, including its quadrennial National Jamboree celebration, has been rigorous and ongoing. Scouting America remains far from perfect, but they have firmly committed to a return to core principles. Back to God and country – immediately!” Parnell said.
Scouting America did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to the Washington Post, the organization said: “For nearly 116 years Scouting has stood as a cornerstone of American ideals, good citizenship, service, and adventure for American youth.
“We are encouraged by tonight’s social media post by the Pentagon, and we look forward to providing more details as we move ahead.”
It represents a significant change of tone from Scouting America, which in November said it was “surprised and disappointed” by Hegseth’s criticism of the organization’s new “genderless” policies and perceived refusal to “cultivate masculine values”.
A draft memo to Congress by the defense secretary accused the scouting movement, traditionally a strong recruiting source for the US military, of an “attack on boy friendly spaces” and fostering “gender confusion”. In the memo, Hegseth said he was considering diverting military resources, including trucks, equipment and personnel, away from the summer jamboree at the Summit Bechtel Reserve camp in West Virginia.
Scouting America said at the time that it was “disappointed in the potential policy change”, and that its “American values have not changed”.
“Our nation’s military has walked side-by-side with Scouts for generations,” the group said in a statement. Scouting “is and has always been a nonpartisan organization” and works “constructively with every US presidential administration – Republican and Democrat”.
The threat by Hegseth, who was never a Boy Scout, drew criticism from Glenn Thompson, a Republican Pennsylvania congressman and longtime supporter of the scouting movement.
“As co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Scouting Caucus, I can think of no better recruitment tool for our military than the lessons acquired through Scouting,” he told the Hill in November.
“It would be nearsighted to uproot this decades-long partnership.”
