Key keywords: Scouting America, diversity initiatives, Pentagon pressure, DEI programs, National Scout Jamboree, youth organization, military partnership, inclusion policies, LGBTQ+ scouts, BIPOC youth participants On July 12, 2024, Scouting America, the national youth scouting organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, confirmed that it had removed all formal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from its upcoming 2024 National Scout Jamboree, following direct pressure from senior U.S. Department of Defense officials. The quadrennial jamboree, which draws more than 40,000 scouts, volunteers and staff from across the country, was initially scheduled to host 17 DEI-focused sessions, including workshops on inclusive leadership, affinity spaces for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth participants, and panels highlighting the contributions of marginalized groups to scouting history. According to internal documents reviewed by multiple U.S. media outlets, Pentagon officials notified Scouting America leadership in late June that the organization’s plan to feature DEI programming at the jamboree violated recent guidance from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which restricts funding for non-mission-related "ideological training" for partner organizations. The Pentagon provides approximately $2.7 million in annual support for the National Scout Jamboree, including access to the 14,000-acre Summit Bechtel Reserve military training facility in West Virginia, on-site medical and security support, and funding for merit badge programs focused on aerospace, cybersecurity and military history. Officials warned that all forms of military support would be revoked immediately if the DEI initiatives remained on the jamboree schedule. In a public statement released following the decision, Scouting America CEO Roger Krone described the choice to remove the DEI content as "an incredibly difficult but necessary step to preserve our decades-long partnership with the U.S. military, which provides life-changing educational opportunities for hundreds of thousands of scouts every year." Krone added that the organization would not abandon its commitment to inclusion, and would instead shift all DEI programming to local council events and regional scouting activities that do not rely on Pentagon funding. The decision has sparked fierce debate across the U.S. Scouting community, which has undergone sweeping policy shifts over the past 15 years to expand access to marginalized groups, including lifting bans on gay scouts and scout leaders in 2013 and 2015 respectively, changing its name from Boy Scouts of America to Scouting America in 2019 to welcome girl participants, and adopting formal anti-discrimination policies covering gender identity, race and religion in 2022. Progressive scouting leaders and parent groups have accused the organization of betraying its core values by caving to political pressure, while conservative advocacy groups have praised the move as a long-overdue rejection of "woke ideology" in youth programming.