A Letter from Roger Krone

As I shared with you this morning, the Department of War announced it is reaffirming its partnership with Scouting America. As an organization that has proudly served military families for over 116 years, our primary objective throughout this engagement was to maintain support for the youth and families who depend on us.  

 

While the Department’s announcement references programmatic updates, we want to be clear about what this continued partnership means for our organization.  

 

Scouting America will continue to welcome and serve all youth. That commitment is unwavering.   

 

What Is Not Changing:  

• Scouting America’s name, mission and commitment to the Scout Oath and Scout Law.  

• Our eligibility requirements – Scouting will continue to welcome and serve all youth. 

• Our member registration – we are memorializing existing practices for member registration.  

• Our practices to safeguard youth – we are reinforcing existing practices to safeguard all youth. 

• Our core commitment to developing leaders of character for service to God, country and community.  

 

What Is New:  

• We are waiving registration fees for children of active-duty, Guard and Reserve families, effective June 1, 2026. 

• We are introducing a new Military Service merit badge. 

• We are discontinuing the Citizenship in Society merit badge to align with Executive Order 14173. 

• We are making other programmatic updates, such as dissolving our DEI committee, to ensure compliance with the Executive Order.   

 

The relationship between Scouting and the Department of War is important to our organization and the military families we serve. Scouting has long been a source of stability — a uniform, a community, a set of values that travel with them wherever they go. Tens of thousands of Scouts participate in units that meet on or near military installations in the U.S. and abroad. This partnership provides the opportunity to continue serving the military families who depend on us. 

 

Importantly and unchanged, every family is welcome in Scouting. Today, Scouting serves nearly one million youth from every corner of American life. We are committed to ensuring the character-building benefits of Scouting – leadership, responsibility, service – are available to all youth who participate in our programs. It is important that our leadership – every one of you – recognize and reinforce Scouting’s unwavering commitment to delivering programs that benefit all youth.  

 

Thank you for your steadfast commitment to Scouting America.   

 

 

Yours in Scouting,

  

Roger Krone

Chief Scout Executive

President & CEO

Scouting America