On February 27, 2026, Scouting America and the Department of War finalized a major agreement that changes Eagle Scout requirements, discontinues the Citizenship in Society merit badge, and introduces new policies for military families. If you’re a Scout, parent, or volunteer leader, this one affects you.
The deal came after months of behind-the-scenes discussions with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and aligns Scouting America’s programs with Executive Order 14173. There’s a lot packed into this agreement, and a fair amount that the official announcement doesn’t spell out. You deserve to know what actually changed, what didn’t, and what comes next.
I’ve reviewed the official Scouting America email announcement (screenshot shown below), the Memorandum of Understanding, and reporting from the Associated Press, Military.com, and CBS News so you don’t have to sort through all of it yourself. First, let’s review the actual email announcing the agreement:
The Email
Email Recap
Scouting America and the Department of War finalized a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on February 27, 2026. The agreement came after several months of behind-the-scenes discussions between Scouting America leadership and Pentagon officials, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The purpose of the agreement, as described by both sides, was to align Scouting America’s programs with Executive Order 14173, a federal directive signed in January 2025 titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” That executive order targets diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs across federal agencies and organizations that work with the federal government.
In exchange for these programmatic changes, the Department of War agreed to continue its longstanding support for Scouting on military installations, at National Jamborees, and through other events.
What Changed
Here’s a plain-language breakdown of the specific changes:
- The Citizenship in Society merit badge has been discontinued. This took effect today, February 27, 2026. If you’ve already started and completed at least some of the requirements, you have until December 31, 2026 to finish the badge and apply it toward Eagle Scout. If you hadn’t started it yet, it’s no longer available. You can read the official discontinuance notice on Scouting.org.
- Eagle Scout now requires 13 merit badges instead of 14. Scouts will choose 8 elective merit badges instead of 7, keeping the total at 21 merit badges for Eagle (13 required + 8 elective).
- A new Military Service merit badge is being developed. Details haven’t been released yet, but it was developed in cooperation with the Department of War.
- Registration fees will be waived for military families. This applies to children of active-duty, Guard, and Reserve service members.
- Membership registration will be based on biological sex at birth. According to the MOU, applications will list only “male” and “female” as sex designations, and the selection must match the applicant’s birth certificate. The agreement also specifies that Scouts of different biological sexes will not share tents, bathrooms, or other similar spaces.
- A Pentagon-appointed liaison will work with Scouting America. The MOU establishes a designated uniformed officer or full-time DoD employee who will serve as the primary liaison to the organization.
- Scouting America’s DEI board committee has been dissolved. The organization also committed to reviewing language throughout its programs and publications.
What Didn’t Change
- The name stays. Scouting America will remain Scouting America, not reverting to “Boy Scouts of America.”
- Girls remain in the program. More than 200,000 girls currently participate in Scouting America programs, and over 6,000 have earned the Eagle Scout rank since girls were admitted. Scouting America stated explicitly that girls have been part of Scouting since the 1960s and that commitment is “unwavering.”
- The Scout Oath and Scout Law are unchanged.
- The mission statement is unchanged.
What the Official Announcement Didn’t Highlight
Scouting America’s email to families framed this as a mutual partnership. And in some ways, it is. Military families get real, tangible benefits, and Scouting preserves its access to bases and events that serve hundreds of thousands of youth.
But the independent reporting I looked into adds context that’s worth understanding:
In previous months, Secretary Hegseth stated publicly that he had been “very seriously considering ending our support of Scouting altogether”. The agreement will be reviewed in six months, and if Scouting America is found to be out of compliance, military support could still be withdrawn.
According to AP reporting, Scouting America itself proposed several of these changes to Hegseth in January, including dropping the Citizenship in Society badge, introducing the Military Service badge, and dissolving their DEI board committee, after hearing his concerns.
Hegseth also stated his view that Scouting America had “lost their way” after 2012 and said the organization should eventually return to being “a group that develops boys into men.” Scouting America’s agreement, however, explicitly preserves the inclusion of girls.
The official announcement described the Citizenship in Society discontinuation this way: “While this change complies with the Executive Order, the lessons found in this merit badge are found throughout the Scouting program.” However, it’s worth noting that Citizenship in Society was added as an Eagle-required badge specifically because national leadership believed those lessons warranted a dedicated, structured focus.
What This Means for Scouts on the Eagle Trail Right Now
If you’re a Life Scout working toward Eagle, here’s what to know:
- You need 13 required merit badges instead of 14. The remaining 13 Eagle-required badges are unchanged. You now pick 8 electives instead of 7.
- If you had already started Citizenship in Society (meaning you completed at least one requirement before today), talk to your council advancement chair. You have until December 31, 2026 to finish it and use it for Eagle.
- If you hadn’t started it yet, it’s simply no longer part of your path or possible to be earned.
- Your total badge count for Eagle remains 21.
Final Thoughts
I started ScoutSmarts to share practical, honest information from my own Scouting journey. I’m not an expert on federal policy, and I certainly don’t know every nuance that went into the decision-making on either side of this agreement.
However, what I will say is this: one of the most valuable things Scouting teaches is how to begin understanding the world we’re operating in. How institutions make decisions. How incentives work. How large organizations balance competing priorities and stakeholders. That’s a skill that goes well beyond any single merit badge.
Your troop has enormous autonomy in how you run your program. If teaching Scouts about cultural differences, respect for others, and how to be upstanders within their communities matters to you and your members, keep it a part of what you do. You don’t need a merit badge to make it happen. Troops and Scoutmasters are ultimately the ones creating the biggest impact for Scouts, and that hasn’t changed.
I’d encourage every troop to have an honest conversation about this. Not a political debate, but a discussion about how organizations navigate pressure, how tradeoffs get made, and what the Scout Oath and Scout Law mean to your troop in practice. These are exactly the kinds of conversations that develop the leaders Scouting exists to build.
The reality is that without military support, Scouting membership would drop significantly, and many of the program’s best resources would become inaccessible. The concession Scouting America made is understandable in that context. I truly hope Scouting’s partnership with our armed forces grows stronger than ever, as it’s clear how the BSA program offers something irreplaceable for young people whose families move frequently due to service.
I’ll keep you updated as more details emerge, especially around the new Military Service merit badge and the six-month review.
Yours in Scouting,
Cole