The Boy Scouts shaped generations of American men who loved their country.
Then the organization surrendered to every demand the Left made.
And the Boy Scouts going woke forced Pete Hegseth to make this hard decision.
Theodore Roosevelt called the Boy Scouts essential to America's future when the organization launched in 1910.
He served as the first and only Chief Scout Citizen, championing an organization that taught boys "patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues."
Millions of fathers spent decades taking their sons camping, teaching them to tie knots, helping them earn merit badges that actually meant something.
The Boy Scouts weren't perfect, but they understood one simple truth: boys need male spaces to become men.
Then the Left came for them.
Pentagon Cuts Century-Old Partnership With Scouts
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is severing the Pentagon's relationship with Scouting America — the group formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America.
Leaked documents obtained by NPR reveal Hegseth preparing a memo to Congress explaining why the military can no longer support an organization that attacks "boy-friendly spaces."¹
The memo accuses Scouting America of becoming "genderless" and promoting "gender confusion" after allowing girls into what was always a male-only program.²
"The organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys," Hegseth wrote.³
That's not rhetoric. That's fact.
No more Pentagon medical teams at the National Jamboree where 20,000 scouts gather in West Virginia.⁴
No more Scout troops meeting at U.S. military installations anywhere in the world.⁵
Congress mandates Pentagon support for the Jamboree, but the law includes an escape clause: the Defense Secretary can terminate support if it's "detrimental to national security."⁶
Hegseth is invoking that clause.
His memo argues the Scouts abandoned their mission to "cultivate masculine values."⁷
A separate memo to Pentagon leaders states: "Scouting America has undergone a significant transformation. It is no longer a meritocracy which holds its members accountable to meet high standards."⁸
Navy Secretary John Phelan pushed back, warning the policy might hurt recruitment since a third of Navy officers have scouting backgrounds.⁹
"Prohibition of access could be detrimental to recruitment and accession efforts across the department," Phelan wrote.¹⁰
Too bad. The Scouts made their choice.
How The Scouts Destroyed Themselves
First, they caved on openly gay members and leaders.
Then in 2019, they opened membership to girls. Not a separate program. The same program designed to help boys become men.
Then came the name change. "Boy Scouts of America" became "Scouting America" in 2024. Gender-neutral. Meaningless.
Hegseth saw this coming years ago. Back in 2018 when he was at Fox News, he warned viewers the Scouts were committing suicide.
"The Boy Scouts has been cratering itself for quite some time," Hegseth said. "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 was right.
The Left doesn't take over institutions to make them better. They take them over to hollow them out until nothing remains but an empty shell wearing the old uniform.
Scouting America released a statement claiming they're "surprised and disappointed."
They insisted they've "always been a nonpartisan organization."
That response proves they don't get it.
This isn't about partisan politics. This is about an organization that had ONE JOB — build strong, capable, confident young men — and decided that job was somehow oppressive.
President Trump spoke at the 2017 National Jamboree and told 40,000 scouts, "The United States has no better citizens than its Boy Scouts."¹¹
He was right then.
But the organization spent the next seven years destroying everything that statement represented.
They chose woke ideology over their mission. They chose appeasing activists over serving boys. They chose "inclusive" instead of excellent.
The Real Cost Nobody's Talking About
Here's what makes this even worse.
Military families move constantly. Louisiana to Alaska. Alaska to Germany. Germany to Texas. Every few years, pack up everything, start over in a new place where you don't know anyone.
Scout troops on military bases gave those kids stability. Walk into any base Scout troop anywhere in the world, and you'd find the same values, the same structure, the same sense of belonging.
Kenny Green is a retired Army Staff Sergeant who served as a sniper in Iraq. He's got three kids in Scouts — two girls and a boy. He told NPR that Scout troops helped his family survive constant moves.
"We don't have to say a word to them, let them go see the other kids, and they'll be immediately integrated in," Green explained.
Now those troops are gone from military bases. Because the national organization decided boys learning to be men was somehow problematic.
Twenty percent of cadets at military academies are Eagle Scouts. Eagle Scouts who enlist get advanced rank and better pay.
All of that ends when the Pentagon severs ties completely.
The Scouts are going to claim this is about politics or discrimination or whatever excuse sounds good this week.
It's not.
This is about an organization that betrayed its own purpose to satisfy people who never supported them in the first place and never will.
The Boy Scouts taught millions of men how to be leaders, how to serve others, how to stand up straight and look someone in the eye and keep your word.
Now they teach kids that biology doesn't matter, that boys and girls are interchangeable, that the very idea of male spaces is offensive.
Theodore Roosevelt would be disgusted. The fathers who spent decades building this organization would be heartbroken. The boys who needed what the Scouts used to provide are the ones who lose.
Pete Hegseth is doing what should have been done years ago: refusing to let the Pentagon keep propping up an organization that abandoned American boys.
The only question left is whether the Boy Scouts — sorry, "Scouting America" — will ever figure out what they threw away.
¹ Tom Bowman and Greg Myre, "U.S. ready to cut support to Scouts, accusing them of attacking 'boy-friendly spaces,'" NPR, November 25, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹² Steve Doocy, "Report: Pentagon hoping to sever ties to Scouting," Deseret News, November 25, 2025.
