The story broke several days ago and NPR “U.S. ready to cut support to Scouts, accusing them of attacking 'boy-friendly spaces” wrote this in part:
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning for the military to sever all ties with Scouting America, saying the group once known as the Boy Scouts is no longer a meritocracy and has become an organization designed to "attack boy-friendly spaces," according to documents reviewed by NPR.
The reason I’m bringing this up again is that I had an interesting conversation with my daughter yesterday on what really might be happening with Hegseth’s plan.
A little background of our family. My son is an Eagle Scout, earning the rank in 1999. My daughter would have been, too, if she had been allowed. The troop was fortunate that is had several female leaders (but it might have been these moms were having a hard time letting go of their boys). But because there was a female leader my daughter could participate in all the camping and hiking events. These included 50 mile hikes in the Sierras and Rim Country in AZ, Rim to Rim Grand Canyon hikes (maybe about 8 times) and base camps all over the state of AZ. My daughter tried Girl Scouting for several years but it just was too girly for her. She tried every angle she could think of including trying to join a troop in Sweden so she could be an exchange student. At first the older scouts weren’t happy about her being there but they soon discovered that she could keep up and didn’t ask for special treatment.
Eight years ago BSA started allowing girls to participate in the program. My granddaughters were just the right age to take advantage of joining. My daughter and SIL (who is also an Eagle Scout) became active in the leadership because they felt so strongly that this was the program that would be most beneficial to the girls. They started as Lions in the Cub Scouts and are currently 1st and 2nd Class Scouts. I believe that the current Troop configuration is that the patrols separated by gender but the Troop as a whole is coed.
Now, back to the conversation with my daughter. I brought up the obvious “boy-friendly spaces” argument that was being reported and she said it went deeper than that. It’s denying the opportunity for these kids to learn to live with values and morals.
More from the NPR article:
The proposal calls for the Pentagon to no longer provide medical and logistical aid to the National Jamboree, which brings in as many as 20,000 scouts to a remote site in West Virginia. It also states that the military will no longer allow Scout troops to meet at military installations in the U.S. and abroad, where many bases have active Scout programs.
By eliminating Scouting from military installations, it reduces the opportunity for families to integrate socially with the next assignment. It also takes away another avenue to teach and practice values and beliefs. Hegseth has made pretty clear that he sees it as a DEI thing but I think it’s also a control thing. Or as this administration likes to put it that everything must align with Trump’s agenda, because he has a mandate, don’t ya know… And it’s pretty obvious that the Scout Laws are antithetical to Trump’s world view.
- Trustworthy: Truthful and reliable.
- Loyal: Faithful to family, friends, and country.
- Helpful: Ready to help others.
- Friendly: A friend to all.
- Courteous: Polite to everyone.
- Kind: Treats others with care and respect.
- Obedient: Follows rules and laws.
- Cheerful: Looks for the good and is of good cheer.
- Thrifty: Works to pay their own way and does not waste.
- Brave: Faces challenges with courage.
- Clean: Keeps their body and mind fit.
- Reverent: Faithful in their religious duties and respects the beliefs of others.
(okay, I still have a bit of a problem with the god part… my son is an atheist and it caused a bit of a kerfuffle with the Eagle Scout interview)
Cutting ties with Scouting is a double-edged sword… Scouts will lose support of their Jamboree
Congress requires the Pentagon to support the scouting program's Jamboree, a gathering of thousands of young scouts held every three or four years. The U.S. military lends trucks, ambulances and medical teams, and puts on aviation and skydiving demonstrations, all at no cost to the Scouts. For the military, it's both a training exercise and an opportunity to recruit highly motivated, civic-minded kids.
And the DOD will lose a great recruitment opportunities...
Scouting has long been a part of military recruiting efforts. As many as 20 percent of cadets and midshipmen at the service academies are Eagle Scouts, according to statistics from Scouting America. Moreover, enlistees who've earned Eagle get advanced military rank and better pay. That practice would end.
It seems there’s’s always an element of destabilizing institutions behind most of the agenda. In this case, trying to force out a program that benefits families and the military. This won’t destroy Scouting, but it may, just a little bit, weaken military recruitment. Imagine getting the kinds of recruits that ICE is getting now.
Scouting has had some rough years dealing with abuse scandals and bankruptcy problems but they seem to have found a way out with addressing the problems and making Leadership requirements much more strict.
Side note: It reminds me of the hard work the MRFF and Mikey Weinstein is doing to keep this administration from completely demoralizing the troops with their religious zealotry. Just keep letting the crazies make the rules and inflict them on everyone who doesn’t have much recourse and see how well it works out. (s).
Another side note: Sometimes I find it hard to communicate so bear with me if this isn’t exactly coherent… As an excuse I will tell you that I have chronic respiratory failure and due to the lack of oxygen (insert smiley face here), I sometimes have trouble articulating my thoughts. Or at least that’s my excuse today.
