No Girls Allowed! Department Of War Threatens Scout Funding Due To Lack Of "Core Values"

COPPER RIVER COUNTRY JOURNAL 

GIRLS IN SCOUTS ARE NOT ALIGNED WITH AMERICAN "CORE VALUES" U.S. GOVERNMENT SAYS 

War Department Warns Scouting America That The Federal Government Doesn't Want Girls In The Group – And Will Remove Pentagon Support If Scouts Remain "Inclusive"  

Scouting America website, February 2026 

Scouts Vow To Be Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean... And Reverent 

Following its goal to cut U.S. support to any organizations or groups that embrace "diversity, equity, or inclusion," the head of the newly renamed Department of War has warned the Scouts of America that they had better shape up and go back to traditional "core values" and "common sense." 

That means kicking out the girls. There used to be "Boy Scouts" and "Girl Scouts." In 2019, to keep the organization going, girls were integrated with the boys in a combined group, Scouting America, in 2024. The Boy Scouts of America were invented in England, by Lord Baden-Powell, who served in the British Army from 1876 to 1910. Girls have been allowed since 1991 in Britain, with "full integration"  there in 2007, almost 20 years ago. 

The Scouts are a 501(c)(3) non-profit funded mainly by donations, membership dues, corporate sponsors and community events, according to the Better Business Bureau. According to the courts, the Scouts are not a governmental organization. 

Currently, the combined boy-girl group concept and the Scouts' perceived interest in "DEI" brings the organization under attack by the U.S. government. War Secretary Pete Hegseth says that the Department of War intends to end medical and logistical aid to the annual Scout National Jamboree, which hosts around 20,000 Scouts because, the Pentagon says, the Scouts are out of line with American values. 

The Boy Scouts first emerged as an organization in 1910. This was after the Alaska Gold Rush. The future Scouts' major popular  skills – camping, outdoor cooking, woodland lore, map reading, use of compasses, understanding of edible plants, gun safety, hiking and outdoor safety – were sadly lacking when would-be gold miners trekked through the Copper Valley, fruitlessly searching for gold, starting in 1898. 

The miners' basic lack of knowledge about outdoor skills and survival made their stay in Alaska extremely dangerous.

Gold miners in late 1890s eating outdoors in Beaver City, before the Boy Scouts were invented in 1910. 

Scout troops also will not – under a proposed plan – be allowed to meet at military installations for their meetings, either in the U.S. or abroad if they keep flouting "common-sense, core value reforms." 

According to reports, War Secretary Hegseth was never a Scout himself. 

The Hill website writes that Congress requires that the federal government help out at the Jamboree, giving free medical care, ambulances and trucks. The Department of War can only withhold assistance if doing this would be "detrimental to national security."

The Pentagon has financially backed the U.S. Scouting movement since 1937. The Scouts of America website shows many additional "partners" who work with the Scouts. In addition to the U.S. Coast Guard, the Army and the Navy, the volunteer organization's partners include Walmart, the American Bicycle Association, Polaris, the Patriots Point Naval & Martitime Museum, NOAA, National Geographic Kids, Microsoft, the American Red Cross, Duncan Yo-Yos and many others. 

Signifying the ties between Scouts and the military, local Boy Scouts & Copper Valley veterans marched together in the July 4th Parade down the Glenn Highway in Glennallen in 1991. (Journal archives) 

The stated goal of Scouting America is to: 

"prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law"

THE SCOUT LAW 

Scouts are asked to take an oath and adhere to the "Scout Law". 

They promise to be trustworthy, which includes telling the truth, keeping promises and being dependable. They promise to be loyal to their family friends, and nation. They promise to be helpful, and volunteer to help others. They are friendly, and "offer friendship to people of all races and nations and respects them even if their beliefs and customs are different from his own." They are courteous and polite to everyone. They are asked to be kind, gentle and not harm others. Scouts are obedient and promise to follow the laws of the community and country. They are cheerful, looking at "the bright side of life." They are thrifty, paying their own way, and looking to the future. They are brave, facing danger even when afraid, and standing up for what they think is right "even if others laugh at" or threaten the Scout. They promise to be clean in body and mind. And they are reverent. (Adapted from the Boy Scout Handbook) 

THE HEADLINES