Pete Hegseth’s Vision of ‘Better Scouting’ Misses the Mark

By: Sam Wilmeth

Selby Chipman was one of the first female Eagle Scouts following a policy change allowing girls to join in 2019.

On February 26, the United States Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, began a new campaign: a battle against Scouting America’s DEI efforts.

His policy restricts the youth leadership organization’s attempts to promote inclusivity, with his post to social media including demands that they discontinue a merit badge focused on ethical decision-making and interpersonal thinking and restrict membership with biological sex requirements on applications. All of these changes come under the threat of the organization being cut off by the Department of War, which provides a large amount of facilities and resources for Scouting America’s events.
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Hegseth’s coercive video announcement’s goal was made explicitly clear by  the secretary himself: “The Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts as originally founded: a group that develops boys into men.”

In reality, though, his plan changes Scouting into a misrepresented version of the organization’s original values.

​Hegseth’s insistence on a version of Scouting devoted to boys being made into strong, loyal men takes away from a much more fundamental principle in the organization: leadership. Taking on different roles in the troop is the foundation of what someone will learn in Scouts; a person who has never held a position with that responsibility in their life can leave scouts with a hefty amount of experience under their belt, with youth members being responsible for organizing, coordinating, and taking charge of any activities their local troop participates in.

Scouts in these positions benefit from leadership development in a number of ways. Any troop leader has the responsibility of making activities educational and inclusive for a diverse array of troop members, with scouts ranging in age anywhere from 10 to 17.

Hegseth’s policies threaten these leadership principles the most. The discontinuance of the Citizenship in Society Merit Badge (the badge focused on educating scouts about inclusivity and ethical decisions) closes discussion for youth scouts about the importance of adapting to new methods of leadership for different people. A scout that does not participate in discussion about this during their time in Scouts is one less future leader that is capable of taking on positions with a focus on global inclusivity using a strong moral compass. Implementing a program dedicated to leadership using military guidance and an exclusive model for Scouting means losing the chance to teach scouts these skills under the guide of ethical, inclusive principles.

I have been in Scouting America for 13 years. After joining as a timid and nervous kid, I grew up to take leadership positions across the troop, including as the head of our youth team. I became a disciplined leader dedicated to supporting my troop with the confidence that I was working for the good of my fellow scouts.

Hegseth’s video was shocking. 

The announcement undermines the ideology I held in my time leading the troop – a style of leadership that kept people organized and included while bringing them in so that I could help raise a future generation of leaders within our group. Without assistance from merit badges and lessons like Citizenship in Society, my efforts are meaningless; I need Scouting America to provide scouts with the opportunity to understand ethical leadership so that I can implement those ideas on site during our events. The Department of War’s new policies means that a puzzle piece to our training has been taken away.

It is beyond concerning that scouts may not receive the leadership training I’ve benefitted from for many years – training that shaped me into the person I am today. There is another problem with Hegseth’s policy, though, that would make any training and experiences we could provide useless:The new policy means that some people may not get into Scouting America at all.

Hegseth’s fight against the changes in Scouting America can be traced back to the change in name; the organization held the title of the “Boy Scouts of America” until the rebrand in 2025. The name change was part of ongoing efforts within Scouts to allow for a more diverse set of youth, including encouraging membership from girls and the LGBTQ+ community. When I entered Scouting, I was a part of this new wave, and came in with a group that was half made up of girls. I always appreciated that any of my friends from school could participate in the organization with me – there were no barriers to that opportunity.

Hegseth was not able to disallow this opportunity with his initial rollout of policy in February, but the future remains unclear for girls in Scouting America. Ultimately, with future negotiations, his policy drive would support the organization returning to a male-only model with access prohibited to transgender youth.

It is a goal that fully undermines what Scouting is all about. There is no need to institute requirements for scouting based on gender –any kid can benefit from leadership training designed to make a generation of youth who are more prepared to take on an increasingly globalized and difficult to navigate world.  Adopting requirements based on exclusivity, rather than continuing a program rooted in inclusivity, means that the only change Hegseth will bring to Scouting is a worsened leadership program accessible to fewer kids than ever.

In this time of decreased membership and financial struggle for the organization, it is key to modernize our practices and increase membership, not make arbitrary lines deciding who can and cannot benefit and participate in Scouting. We have the chance, which we have never had before, to educate all diverse groups of kids on how to be an effective, ethical, and moral person under the same program that turned millions of scouts, including myself, into critical and empathetic thinkers and leaders. Hegseth risks limiting that chance when we need it more than ever.

Scouting’s future still remains at stake, and members within the organization need to continue to defend the values of inclusivity and moral leadership.