Cub Scouts with Yokosuka Pack 33 stand at attention during a flag retirement ceremony at Ikego West Valley Campground near Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, in May 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
The Defense Department is “near a final agreement” with Scouting America to continue providing support from the U.S. military, provided the organization “implements the common-sense, core value reforms,” the department’s chief spokesman said Monday on social media.
“They are on the clock, and we are watching,” spokesman Sean Parnell wrote in a post on X. “We have more to announce soon.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned in November that the Pentagon was planning to end its support of Scouting, saying the organization had changed to something designed to “attack boy-friendly spaces,” according to a draft memo to Congress reviewed by National Public Radio.
On Monday, Parnell said the Pentagon had recently reviewed its relationship with Scouting America, a “great organization that has — in many ways — lost its way.”
The review stemmed from a DOD policy of no tolerance for policies or organizations that embrace diversity, equity and inclusion under a January 2025 executive order by President Donald Trump ending DEI preferences in federal contracting, according to Parnell.
His post did not specify the reforms under discussion.
Scouting America responded to Parnell’s post in an unsigned email Tuesday to Stars and Stripes.
“For nearly 116 years Scouting has stood as a cornerstone of American ideals, good citizenship, service, and adventure for American youth,” the statement said. “We are encouraged by tonight’s social media post by the Pentagon, and we look forward to providing more details as we move ahead.”
Hegseth’s November memo proposed the Pentagon end its medical and logistical aid to Scouting America’s National Jamboree, which attracts as many as 20,000 scouts every four years. The Pentagon would no longer allow Scouts to meet on military installations in the U.S. and abroad, where many bases have active Scout programs, according to NPR.
For more than a decade, “Scouting America’s leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values of this administration and this Department of War, including an embrace of DEI and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances,” Parnell wrote. “This is unacceptable.”
A DOD review of its financial assistance and partnership with Scouting America apparently yielded some agreement with the organization, according to Parnell’s post.
“Scouting America remains far from perfect, but they have firmly committed to a return to core principles,” he wrote.
A Defense Department spokesperson responded to Stars and Stripes’ emailed request for further information after hours Monday by referring to Parnell’s statement on X: “We will have more to announce soon like the post says.”
Scouting America’s precursor, Boy Scouts of America, rebranded itself in 2018 following scandals and bankruptcy to become Scouts BSA, the year it admitted girls into the program. The organization again rebranded itself as Scouting America in February 2025.
Scouting America CEO Roger Krone, a former head of technology firm Leidos and a former Boeing executive, responded to the NPR report by saying he and the organization were “deeply saddened” by the news.
“According to the story, the draft memo purports that the Scouting organization is ‘no longer a meritocracy’ and does not hold members to high standards. This view is clearly uninformed,” he said in a statement posted Nov. 25 on the Scouting America’s website.
“Scouting will never turn its back on the children of our military families. Just as we always have, Scouts will continue to put duty to country above duty to self and will remain focused on serving all American families in the U.S. and abroad,” he said.
Krone also encouraged supporters to contact their senators and representatives in Congress to ask for their help.
