U.S. Military’s Alliance With Boy Scouts Could Collapse As Hegseth Calls Out DEI Overreach

War Secretary Pete Hegseth is reportedly preparing to sever the military’s century-old partnership with the organization once known proudly as the Boy Scouts.

According to draft memos reviewed by NPR, Hegseth argues that Scouting America — after years of surrendering to leftist ideology — has abandoned the very mission that made it one of the nation’s most respected training grounds for leadership, character, and masculine virtue.

The Boy Scouts were once endorsed by Theodore Roosevelt and long served as a natural bridge to the military. The Pentagon formally backed the organization beginning in 1937, supplying trucks, doctors, medics, logistical support, and even aviation demonstrations at the National Jamboree. For the military, it doubled as a valuable recruiting channel: Eagle Scouts routinely entered at higher ranks, and about 20% of service-academy cadets came from scouting backgrounds.

But Hegseth says that era is over. According to Hegseth, the leaked documents indicate that Scouting America has become “genderless,” promotes “gender confusion,” and now devotes itself to DEI initiatives rather than merit and accountability. The group’s rebranding — from “Boy Scouts” to “Scouts BSA” in 2018, and now to “Scouting America” in 2025 — symbolizes, in Hegseth’s view, an institution hollowed out by the same ideological forces transforming much of American civic life.

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“Drafts of a report to Congress obtained by NPR show Hegseth invoking that clause — accusing Scouting America of fostering ‘gender confusion,’” NPR reported. “His memo to the House and Senate Armed Services committees argues the Scouts have strayed from their mission to ‘cultivate masculine values.’ It also claims that with international conflicts and a tight budget, sending troops, doctors, and vehicles to a 10-day youth event would harm national security by diverting resources from border operations and protecting U.S. territory.”

Scouting America’s leadership responded with disappointment, insisting the group remains nonpartisan, rooted in duty to God and country, and committed to building ethical leaders. But their assurances ring hollow after years of DEI programming.

“In 2020, Scouting America added a new requirement for scouts working to achieve the group’s highest rank, Eagle Scout: A ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ badge, later renamed the ‘Citizenship in Society’ badge,’” Vanity Fair noted.

For many conservatives, Hegseth’s move is not an attack on American tradition —  it’s an overdue acknowledgment that the institution once called the Boy Scouts no longer resembles what it was.

As the cultural Left remakes legacy organizations in its own image, Hegseth is signaling that the U.S. military will no longer subsidize the transformation.