Letter from the Scout Executive: March 2026

Following last Friday’s announcement from the Secretary Hegseth pertaining to Scouting’s relationship to the U.S. military, here’s a clear summary of what’s new and what remains unchanged for Scouting America and the Baltimore Area Council.

What Is Not Changing:  

• Our core commitment: We’re committed to the mission of developing leaders of character for service to God, country and community in accordance with the Scout Oath and Law.
• Our eligibility requirements: Scouting America will continue to welcome and serve all youth. That commitment is unwavering.
• Our member registration: We are continuing existing practices for member registration with no additional validation.
• Our practices to safeguard youth: We continue to reinforce our existing practices to safeguard all youth.

What Is New:  

• Scouting will be waiving the National registration fees for children of active-duty, Guard and Reserve families, effective June 1, 2026. These expenses will not be passed on to the local Councils, nor do they affect our local Council fee. More details to follow on this implementation.
• Introducing a new Military Service merit badge. 
• Discontinuing the Citizenship in Society merit badge.
  • Effective Feb. 27, 2026, the Citizenship in Society Merit Badge will be discontinued. Beginning on February 27, 2026, Scouts will no longer be able to start requirements on the Citizenship in Society Merit Badge. Those Scouts who had already started and completed any requirements for the merit badge will be allowed the rest of 2026 to complete the full merit badge and still utilize it for attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. This has been standard practice for Eagle requirements and other advancement changes in the past.
  • Effective Feb. 27, 2026, the rank of Eagle Scout will have 13 required merit badges instead of 14. All remaining 13 Eagle Required merit badges will still apply, just not Citizenship in Society, but Scouts will have 8 elective merit badges from which to choose instead of 7, and the total for Eagle Scout will remain at 21 merit badges (13 required + 8 elective = 21 merit badges).
  • Council & District Advancement Chairs as well as Council Registrars (Eagle Scout app processors) will have the ability to allow the Citizenship in Society Merit Badge to count towards Eagle Scout for those few Life Scouts who started the requirements prior to the discontinuance date and will complete the merit badge before Dec. 31, 2026.

The relationship between Scouting and the Department of War is important to our organization and the military families we serve. Tens of thousands of Scouts participate in Units that meet on or near military installations in the U.S. and abroad.

Locally, our partnership with Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Fort Meade, and the Naval Academy provide the opportunity for programing and to continue serving military families who depend on us. 

Importantly and unchanged, we continue to welcome every family into Scouting. We are committed to ensuring the character-building benefits of Scouting are available to all youth who participate in our programs. It is important that everyone recognizes and reinforces Scouting’s unwavering commitment to delivering programs that benefit all young people.  

We will continue to share additional information as it becomes available. The mission of the Baltimore Area Council remains the same: to make the Scouting program available to every youth in the Greater Baltimore Area.