Pentagon Orders Scouting America to Return to 'Core Values'

The Pentagon is telling Scouting America to change course—or risk losing a partnership that's been woven into US military culture for generations. In a public warning posted on X late Monday, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Defense Department is close to a deal to keep supporting the organization, but only because Scouting America has "firmly committed to a return to core principles." He demanded a shift "back to God and country—immediately," blasting what he called the group's "unacceptable" embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and "gender-fluid ideological stances," the Washington Post reports. He described Scouting America as a "great organization, that has—in many ways—lost its way."

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a longtime critic of DEI programs, has moved to eliminate them across the military and previously denounced the Scouts' decision to admit girls and rebrand under a more inclusive name. The change from Boy Scouts of America to Scouting America was announced in 2024. In drafts of a report to Congress obtained by NPR in November, Hegseth, who was never a Boy Scout, accused the organization of fostering "gender confusion" and straying from what he said was a mission to "cultivate masculine values."
• Behind the scenes, officials had been drafting plans to cut all military support, a move that could strip Scouting America of access to bases and other assets, insiders tell the Post.
• That would hit military families abroad especially hard and could throw this July's National Jamboree in West Virginia into chaos: the 10-day event, expected to draw more than 15,000 Scouts, typically leans on hundreds of National Guard and active-duty personnel for logistics, medical care, and security. "They are on the clock, and we are watching," Parnell wrote. For now, the West Virginia National Guard says it has received no orders to stand down and is continuing preparations.

• Neither the Pentagon nor Scouting America has said what specific "core value reforms" are being discussed, including whether the organization might again become boys-only. In a statement, Scouting America called itself a "cornerstone of American ideals" for nearly 116 years and said it was encouraged by the Pentagon's latest comments, while reiterating that it has long worked with administrations of both parties on a nonpartisan basis.
• The standoff threatens a relationship cemented in law and tradition, the Post reports. Federal statute authorizes extensive Defense Department support for the Jamboree, and a waiver from Congress is needed to end it. A large share of military officers have Scouting backgrounds, and Eagle Scouts can enter the services at higher enlisted pay grades. Any move to sever ties would mark a sharp break from 2017, when President Trump told Scouts at the Jamboree that "the Scouts believe in putting America first"—a year before the organization began admitting girls.