Hegseth Announces ‘Scouting America’ to Become Great Again After Reform Agreement With Pentagon – RedState

RedState reported in November how the War Department, under Secretary Pete Hegseth, announced it was preparing to end its partnership with Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America.

According to Hegseth, and in the eyes of many Americans, she had become openly hostile to boys by failing to “cultivate masculine values” and promoting “gender confusion.” In his opinion, it was no longer based on merit, but rather on DEI.

It was a belief that dated back to Hegseth’s time as co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend, where he said in 2018: “This is an institution that the left did not control.” They didn’t want to improve it. They wanted to destroy it or dilute it into something that represented nothing. »

On Friday, however, Hegseth, a veteran of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan who was a major in the Army National Guard, announced that things were changing within Scouting America, with the goal of making the organization big again — and more focused on boys.

SEE ALSO: The Boy Scouts of America introduces its new “Diversity and Inclusion” badge

The news was first shared on the War Department website:

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth today announced that the Department of War will conditionally continue to provide support to Scouting America – formerly the Boy Scouts of America – following the youth organization’s commitment to remove all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from its program.

[…]

“After 2012, however, the Boy Scouts lost their way and a once-great organization was seriously injured. [DEI] slipped in, name changed to “Scouting America”, girls were accepted [and] the emphasis on God as ruler of the universe has been watered down to include openness to humanism and pagan, Earth-centered religions,” Hegseth said during his speech.

The idea in 2025 to sever ties with Scouting America stemmed from the Trump administration’s belief that the group was at odds with President Trump’s executive orders relating to DEI:

The secretary said his motivation for severing ties with the Boy Scouts was related to what he said were the organization’s violations of President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 14173 of Jan. 21, 2025, entitled “Ending Unlawful Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.”

“But before we make this big change, I have decided to meet with current Scouting leadership to express our deep concerns,” Hegseth said, adding that Scouting America ultimately agreed to several “key reforms” based on a series of ongoing conversations between Scouting America, himself and other senior War Department officials.

The reforms, which are part of a memorandum of understanding signed between the Pentagon and the Scouts, are a good start, Hegseth observed:

“This includes reviewing and replacing politicized, divisive and discriminatory language throughout the organization, programs and all publications. No more DEI. Zero,” Hegseth said.

Scouting America also agreed to end its “citizenship in society” merit badge, which required those with the rank of Life Scout to “become aware of the benefits of diversity, equity, inclusion and ethical leadership,” before being allowed to advance to the rank of Eagle Scout, according to Scouting America’s official website.

The organization also changed a policy that did not differentiate between the biological sex of male and female participants at birth.

“Accordingly, applications for membership in Scouting America will continue to provide only the gender designations “male” and “female.” Scouting America will adopt a policy stating that biological boys and girls will not be permitted to share intimate spaces, including restrooms, showers, and tents,” the MOU continues, adding that similar policies will be adopted with respect to Scout leaders, volunteers, staff, and anyone else involved in Scouting.

RELATED (VIP): Masculinity is back and it’s time

Also note:

In exchange for Scouting America making all of the above-mentioned adjustments to its organization, the War Department will authorize “Scouting America activities to occur on U.S. military installations and DOW installations, with the support of appropriate logistics services, in the United States, its territories, or foreign countries, as authorized and approved by applicable law and DOW policy,” according to the memorandum of understanding.

“Ideally, I believe the Boy Scouts should return to being the Boy Scouts as they were originally founded: a group that turns boys into men,” Hegseth said while noting that periodic updates would be coming on Scouting America’s membership progress.

The War Department officially put Scouting America on notice.

It’s time to get back to basics – and DoW is leading the charge. pic.twitter.com/EnY9mvaFLX

– Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) February 27, 2026

Read the full announcement, which includes more details on the agreed reforms, here.

Editor’s note: Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the warrior ethos is returning to the U.S. military.

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