US Military Ready To Cut Ties To Scouting America For No Longer "Cultivating Masculine Values"
The United States and the Scouts have been partners for over 100 years.
After over 100 years of partnership, the U.S. Military, under the hand of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is planning to cut ties with Scouting America, formally known as the Boy Scouts.
In documents shared with NPR, Hegseth explains the split by saying that the organization now “attack[s] boy-friendly spaces” and no longer gives effort to "cultivating masculine values."
“The organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys,” he writes.
It’s an interesting opinion for someone who spends so much of his time on makeup.
The paperwork also accuses Scouting America, which began to welcome girls in 2019, of being “genderless” and engaging in DEI programs, which holds some truth.
The Scouts have indeed become more inclusive over the last 10 years.
The organization started allowing gay youth in 2014, and gay adult volunteers in 2015, girls (allowed in 2019), and atheists and agnostics (allowed in 2016) soon followed.
The military plans to part ways by withdrawing its support for the 10-day National Jamboree, where 20,000 young scouts travel to West Virginia for an annual meeting. In the past, the military helped logistically with issues such as medical care at this youth and leadership event.
In addition, the military will stop allowing Scouting America troops to meet on military bases — which it does throughout the world.
According to a source verified by NPR, the documents announcing these changes will be delivered to Congress by the Pentagon in the coming days. The papers also argue that the military cannot “divert resources” to the Scouts because of international conflicts and responsibilities at home.
Scouting America has preemptively responded, though, in an emailed statement.
"Scouting is and has always been a nonpartisan organization," the statement reads. "Over more than a century, we've worked constructively with every U.S. presidential administration — Democratic and Republican — focusing on our common goal of building future leaders grounded in integrity, responsibility, and community service."
The statement is very true — Scouting America has long helped recruit military members in a variety of ways, with many military leaders beginning as Boy Scouts and working their way to Eagle Scouts. Hegseth was never a Boy Scout.
