Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, a co-chair of the Congressional Scouting Caucus, told The Daily Signal that he is attempting to meet in person with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to discuss the memo on the Department of War separating from Scouting America, the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America. Sessions called the memo—first reported by NPR and not confirmed by the Department of War—”stunningly uninformed” about the necessity of scouting to the military. Sessions told The Daily Signal that he and his fellow members of the Congressional Scouting Caucus have sought to meet with Hegseth to “remind him and those at the War Department that the Boy Scouts of America are a value added part of providing in the past men, young boys, to join our military, in particular, Eagle Scouts at our academies to take on the top jobs of protecting this nation.” The military awards an automatic rank increase to Eagle Scouts who enlist. A 2017 post for Scouting Magazine noted that 20% of West Point cadets, 12% of the Naval Academy Class of 2016, and 10% of Air Force Academy cadets had attained the highest rank in Scouting. “On the side of men who are also Eagle Scouts, but also people in scouting, we have taught [young men] skill sets that have been very valuable to the military,” Sessions added. Scouting America, which changed its name from the Boy Scouts of America earlier this year, takes young men and young women—in separate sex-segregated troops—on hiking, camping, fishing, and adventure trips, teaching wilderness survival skills alongside civics and a hard work ethic. Yet Scouting America has faced criticism in recent years for allowing scouts who identify as transgender to join troops reserved for the opposite sex, and for requiring a “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” merit badge. These and other reasons lead the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to end its long-term relationship with the Boy Scouts and create its own scouting organization. The Scout’s ideological drift also inspired the founding of Trail Life USA and American Heritage Girls, conservative alternatives to the scouting group. The Hegseth Memo According to NPR, Hegseth’s draft memo to Congress states the military’s intention to sever all ties with Scouting America, claiming the group is no longer a meritocracy and accusing the group of being “genderless” and attacking “boy-friendly spaces.” A War Department official told The Daily Signal that “the department will not comment on leaked documents that we cannot authenticate and that may be pre-decisional.” “The Scouting movement has had a strong relationship with our nation’s military going back more than a century,” Scouting America CEO Roger Krone said in a statement responding to the news. “An enormous percentage of those in our military academies are Scouts and Eagle Scouts.” Krone denied the claim that Scouting America is “no longer a meritocracy,” noting that “badges and ranks are not given, they are earned.” He also insisted that “Scouting is and has always been a nonpartisan organization. For more than a century, we’ve worked with every U.S. presidential administration—Republican and Democrat—focusing on our common goal of building future leaders grounded in integrity, responsibility, and service.” Boy Scout Alternatives? Sessions responded to concerns about Scouting America’s apparent leftward drift by insisting that his experience of scouting on the ground does not fit that characterization. When it comes to allowing scouts to join opposite-sex troops based on a claimed gender identity, he said, “while I’m not in favor of it, I believe the laws in the states where this may be present require this, and I think we find ourselves becoming a regional organization as opposed to adopting the laws of the nation.” “I don’t think that that’s the way we think about it in most states where it’s not required,” he added. He defended having a “big tent” national approach to the issue, allowing troops in blue states to adopt leftist ideology. “Is scouting going to be a nationwide organization and be adaptive, or are we going to be a regional organization?” he asked. Sessions noted that Latter-day Saint churches “are very important to the military,” but did not comment on whether the military should consider working with alternatives to Scouting America. He mentioned sensing a “reluctance” between Scouting America and the Latter-day Saints to remaining apart. Of the memo, he repeated, “It is a mistake and will not go without a huge fight in Congress for the Department of War to continue down the path that they are on.” “The Department of war is misinformed; they have the wrong viewpoint about this issue,” Sessions said. He reiterated his desire to meet with Hegseth and the White House to discuss the issue. Neither the White House nor the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment. The post ‘STUNNINGLY UNINFORMED’: Scouting Caucus Leader Slams Hegseth Boy Scout Memo appeared first on The Daily Signal.