Pentagon threatens to cut ties with Scouting America over ‘core values’ | US news

The Pentagon is threatening to sever ties with Scouting America unless the organization, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, returns to “core values” and realigns itself with service to “God and country.”

A warning to end the U.S. military’s long-standing partnership with one of the nation’s largest and most popular youth organizations came Monday night. post on social media Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell insisted the scouting movement had “lost its way” in a 2025 rebrand that promotes inclusivity and includes accepted girls and LBGTQ+ members.

The defense department under Donald Trump’s defense secretary Pete Hegseth has previously complained about “wokeness” in the US military, including through diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, and suggested women do not have 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. Washington Post reported It was noted on Tuesday that a separate draft memo outlining the plan had been in circulation in recent days.

Parnell’s post said the department had reviewed its relationship with Scouting America for months and would continue logistical and financial support “as long as the organization rapidly implements common-sense, core values ​​reforms.”

“For more than a decade, Scouting America’s leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values ​​of this administration and the War Department, including the adoption of DEI and other social justice and gender ideological stances. This is unacceptable,” Parnell wrote, using the Trump administration’s unofficial new name for the defense department.

The post implied that the department had secured Scouting America’s consent by threatening support for a national meeting of up to 20,000 scouts and leaders in July; this event has traditionally been one that has benefited from U.S. military members providing logistics, medical care, and security.

“Our review of DoW’s financial assistance and partnership with Scouting America, including the quadrennial National Jamboree celebrations, is rigorous and ongoing. Scouting America is far from perfect, but they are firmly committed to a return to basics. Return to God and country—now!” Parnell said.

Scouting America did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “For nearly 116 years, Scouting has stood for American youth as a cornerstone of American ideals, good citizenship, service and adventure,” the organization said in a statement to the Washington Post.

“We are encouraged by the Pentagon’s social media post tonight and look forward to providing more details as we move forward.”

This represents a significant change in tone for Scouting America, which said in November that it was “surprised and disappointed” by Hegseth’s criticism of the organization’s new “genderless” policies and perceived refusal to “advance masculine values.”

In a draft memo submitted to Congress by the defense secretary, the scouting movement, which has traditionally been a powerful recruiting source for the U.S. military, was accused of an “attack on boy-friendly areas” and promoting “gender confusion.” In the memo, Hegseth said he was considering diverting military resources, including trucks, equipment and personnel, from summer recreation 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 “American values ​​have not changed.”

“Our nation’s military has marched side by side with the Boy Scouts for generations,” the group said in a statement. Scouting “is and always has been a nonpartisan organization” and “works constructively with every presidential administration of the United States (Republican and Democrat).”

The threat from 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 recruiting tool for our military than the lessons learned through Scouting,” he said. I told Hill In November.

“It would be short-sighted to uproot this decades-old partnership.”