Scouting America responded on Tuesday to a reported memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seeking to cut ties with the organization, saying it was “surprised and disappointed” by the potential policy change, as the military has given its support to the Scouts since 1937.
“The Scouting movement has had a strong relationship with our nation’s military going back more than a century,” according to the group. “From the tremendous support of the West Virginia National Guard at our National Jamborees to Scout troops that provide stability for the children of military families deployed around the globe, our nation’s military has walked side-by-side with Scouts for generations.”
It also noted that “an enormous percentage of those in our military academies are Scouts and Eagle Scouts.”
Hegseth is reportedly upset with the group for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. His memo, first reported by NPR, accuses Scouting America — formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America — of attacking boy-friendly spaces and for being “genderless.” The memo has yet to be sent to Congress.
“The organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys,” Hegseth wrote in the memo.
The proposal calls for the Pentagon to pull medical and logistical aid to the National Jamboree, an event where up to 20,000 Scouts gather at a remote site in West Virginia about every four years. It also looks to prohibit Scouting troops from meeting at military installations in the U.S. and abroad.
In a statement to The Hill, a Pentagon official said the department “will not comment on leaked documents that we cannot authenticate and that may be pre-decisional.”
Congress requires the Pentagon to support Scouting America’s Jamboree, lending trucks, ambulances and medical teams free of charge.
But Hegseth can withhold such aid if he determines giving it would be “detrimental to national security.” He argues that in drafts of a report to Congress obtained by NPR, claiming Scouting America is fostering “gender confusion.”
Scouts have strayed from their mission to “cultivate masculine values,” he writes in his memo to the House and Senate Armed Services committees, while claiming that it would harm national security to send troops and equipment to Jamboree as it would divert resources from protecting U.S. territory.
In its statement, Scouting America appeared to debate that reasoning, noting that it “is and has always been a nonpartisan organization” and that its values have not changed.
“Over more than a century, we’ve worked constructively with every U.S. presidential administration – Republican and Democrat – focusing on our common goal of building future leaders grounded in integrity, responsibility, and community service,” they write.
The changes, if enacted, would be a major break for the more than 100-year partnership, which has majorly helped the military recruitment efforts. As many as 20 percent of cadets and midshipmen at the service academies are Eagle Scouts – the highest rank you can achieve in Scouting – according to Scouting America statistics.
Eagle Scouts who decide to enlist also enjoy advanced military rank and better pay – a practice that would end under Hegseth’s proposed policy changes.
President Trump in his firm term spoke at the Jamboree in West Virginia in 2017, praising the group as having “no better citizens.”
Trump as president is the honorary leader of Scouting America. At the time of the Jamboree he pointed out that 10 of his Cabinet members were former Scouts.
Hegseth, who is not a former Boy Scout, in 2018 complained about the Scouts when the group changed its name and admitted girls, saying on Fox News that the organization has been “cratering itself for quite some time.”
“This is an institution the left didn’t control. They didn’t want to improve it. They wanted to destroy it or dilute it into something that stood for nothing,” he said at the time.
In a draft memo to senior Pentagon leaders also reported by NPR, he appears to have the same line of thinking, accusing Scouting America of undergoing a “significant transformation.”
“It is no longer a meritocracy which holds its members accountable to meet high standards,” he writes.
Hegseth’s move to cut ties with the Scouts follows other actions meant to take a sledgehammer to DEI programs at the Pentagon and disproportionately removing some senior female and African-American officers over white male officers. He has also frequently suggested, without proof, the military has lowered its standards in favor of diversity hires.
But not everyone at the Pentagon appears to agree with Hegseth, with Navy Secretary John Phelan in another memo to Undersecretary for Policy Elbridge Colby warning the changes might be “too restrictive.”
“Passive support to Scouting America through access to military installations and educational opportunities aboard said installations serve as a crucial recruiting and community engagement tool for the [Navy],” Phelan wrote in the memo reported by NPR. “Prohibition of access could be detrimental to recruitment and accession efforts across the department.”
He also noted that almost a third of the Navy’s officers in training have some scouting background.
Updated at 2:02 p.m. EST