One of the best advisers of the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, recommended that the Ministry of Defense will have links with Scouting America, known for decades under the name of Boy Scouts, saying that he is too “awake” to support, according to several people familiar with the discussions.
Tami Radabaugh, deputy deputy assistant of the defense secretary for strategic commitment and direct advisor to Hegseth, put pressure on other senior officials to suspend the old relationships of the Pentagon with the group, in particular by arguing that when Hegseth was a host on Fox News, he awarded the Scout America as an organization that had lost the ” familiar people. We do not know where Hegseth and the people around him stand on the question.
Although the Pentagon has not yet decided to cut this relationship and if it would be a total break in links or something more limited, as Hegseth is not involved, Radabaugh has recommended that Hegseth does not participate in a video for the group due to concern, and it has not so far, according to familiar people with discussions.
In a statement, Sean Parnell, the Pentagon-chief spokesperson, said: “Secretary Hegseth and his public affairs team examine in detail the partnerships and commitments to line up on the president’s agenda and advance our mission.”
In May, when Boy Scouts of America announced that he would officially change his name to a America scout, Hegseth denounced the organization on Fox News, blaming the “left” to have supposed to destroy it.
“It is an institution that the left did not control. They did not want to improve it. They wanted to destroy it or dilute it in something that represented anything. So, five years ago, the Boy Scouts let the girls enter, who was essentially the end of the Boy Scouts,” he said at the time.
Hegseth said that the government becomes more powerful when organizations and groups of young people like Boy Scouts lose what they represent.
“It’s a tragedy,” he said. “Young children will not have the opportunity to learn these skills, but more importantly, values. And they did it for themselves. ”
The American army has supported screening for decades, according to Gordon Shattles, Scouting America’s National Director for Corporate Communications. This includes allowing the organization to hold all of its national jamborees at Fort AP Hill, now known as Fort Walker, from 1981 to 2010, after which the event was transferred to Bechtel Reserve, a new installation belonging to Scouting America.
Shattles said that the group has “a long and celebrated the history of collaboration with the American army” and added that “the lasting relationship extends over decades”.
Scouts have frequent American military academies each year, including more than 3,516 Eagle Scouts who have registered in the American military academy West Point since 2003, according to statistics provided by Scouting America. About 20% of this year’s promotion at the US Air Force Academy was in the Boy Scouts or Girls Scouts, and about 10% of the cadets had won the prestigious Rank Eagle Scout or Girl Scout Gold Award, according to Scouting America.
Shattles said the soldiers supported scouting each year by allowing its units to conduct meetings, campsites and other activities on the basics, by involving military colors in ceremonies and screening events, and by participating or supporting national screening events such as ham. He said many soldiers in active and retired service serve as leaders and advisers insignificant, in particular for badges linked to outdoor skills, citizenship and emergency preparation.
Shattles has also strengthened that Scouting America does not receive funding from the Ministry of Defense or any other federal agency.
The scouts also helped to recruit military, according to two defense officials.
Although the command of the recruitment of the American army does not have an official affiliation with Scouting America, the recruits which enlist with certain scouting prices, such as the Eagle Scout certificates or the Girl Scout Gold Awards, can enter the army with higher ranks during the enrollment, according to a spokesperson for the command.
And the command of American army cadets “conducts marketing and recruitment activities with Scouting America to educate scouts and their parents on the opportunities available in the ROTC army,” said spokesperson in an email.
The Virginie-Western National Guard has supported Jamboree in recent years and is expected to provide a military group and colors for the next rally in 2026 in Bechtel Reserve, according to a defense and scouting America.
Chartered by the Congress, the organization was known as Boy Scouts of America for more than 100 years until February, the month of its 115th anniversary, when the name has officially become Scouting America. The name change is part of a greater effort to make the organization more inclusive which also included girls to join the girls. The organization had submitted a bankruptcy file in 2020 after facing prosecution against tens of thousands of survivors of sexual abuse, which led to nearly $ 2.5 billion to compensate the victims.
President Donald Trump spoke in Jamboree on July 25, 2017, saying: “You are the young people of character, the integrity that will serve as leaders of our communities and will respect the sacred values of our nation.”
“The United States has no better citizens than its scout boys,” he told the crowd, adding: “Scouts believe in priority to America.” He also pointed out that 10 members of his office were scouts.
Radabaugh, which advises HegSeth on the commitment of the Defense Department with external groups, is a former producer of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Channel, according to her Linkedin profile, including a passage at “Fox & Friends”, the morning program whose edition of the weekend is co-organized before becoming defense secretary.
CORRECTION (April 10, 2025, 2:52 pm HE): A previous version of this article disturbed the honors linked to the screening won by around 10% of the Air Force Academy cadets. They are the Rank Eagle Scout and the Girl Scout Gold Award, not the Eagle Scout Gold price.
This article was initially published on NBCNews.com
