Hegseth greets troops at Stratcom, discusses ‘arsenal of freedom’ in Wisconsin

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth underscored his focus on reestablishing the warrior ethos, rebuilding America’s military and reestablishing deterrence during visits to U.S. Strategic Command in Nebraska and defense manufacturer Oshkosh Corporation in Wisconsin.

At Offutt Air Force Base, he told personnel at U.S. Strategic Command they are at the center of the nation’s deterrent posture, which includes nuclear bomber aircraft, ground deterrence and the nuclear submarine fleet. “It’s the absolute foundation of our deterrence,” Hegseth said. “I talk a lot about reviving the warrior ethos and rebuilding the military and reestablishing deterrence. Deterrence never left this place, never has, and that’s a 24/7/365 responsibility that the men and women at this location live every single day; it is the absolute bedrock.”

He said the department is seeking — and expects to get — the president’s $1.5 trillion defense budget request this year, with funding slated for nuclear command and control, the Columbia-class submarine, the B-21 Raider and the Sentinel program to replace the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system. Emphasizing expectations for performance and readiness at the command, he added, “We don’t want commanders walking on eggshells when they enforce the basics, like accountability, like standards, like readiness. You want to talk about … a place where meritocracy has to reign no matter what; where you have to be ready at all times, no matter what? It’s United States Strategic Command — nothing else matters. We just need folks that are very good at their job and able to conduct that with minimal distraction up and down [the] echelon. … That’s this place right here.”

Hegseth outlined the Arsenal of Freedom initiative, aimed at giving defense companies stable, long-term demand signals to spur domestic investment, hiring and production, and broadening the pool of firms that can compete for work. “Our arsenal of freedom needs to expand,” he said. “It can’t just be five prime contract defense contractors. … We’ve got to open the bureaucracies so that more companies, great American companies, can compete. They build it here. They employ Americans here. They manufacture here at scale and at speed.” He said taxpayers, workers and warfighters would benefit: “[The] American taxpayers are saving money because these private companies are investing in new plants and new manufacturing capability,” Hegseth said. “[The] taxpayer also wins when you get a seven-year order on a fixed price, and most importantly for this audience, who wins? The warfighter — who gets the capabilities that you deserve faster than you’ve ever gotten them before — and with a magazine depth that you need for a modern battlefield.”

Later, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Hegseth met with workers at Oshkosh Corporation, which builds the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck and the Oshkosh M-ATV. “I’m here on behalf of the commander in chief, [President] Donald J. Trump, to say thank you for building faster and faster each day, the arsenal of freedom that our warriors need,” he said. “I’m also here because I want an opportunity to look all of you in the eye, my fellow patriots, and tell you how important your job is. We don’t have the helmets without the hard hats, and we don’t have the warriors without the workers. We are all shoulder to shoulder in this arsenal of freedom.”

Pointing to the company’s rapid fielding of mine-resistant vehicles during conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, he noted former Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ push to accelerate delivery. “He cut the usual Pentagon red tape to get Oshkosh MRAPs to our warriors in theater,” Hegseth said. “You and this company saved American lives. There are many American warriors — in fact, I have no doubt many veterans right here today — living because of the good work of Midwest manufacturers like you.” He said the current effort aims to replicate that speed and focus. “It’s a great American story that we are iterating on and replicating across our department right now,” he said, calling Oshkosh “a model of delivering commercial and military capabilities to the warfighter.”

Hegseth said the Pentagon is reducing bureaucracy to make it easier for companies of all sizes to compete and produce for the military. “For decades, the Pentagon was hampered by bureaucracy, bogged down by burdensome and inefficient processes, paralyzed by impossible risk thresholds and distracted by agendas that had nothing to do with warfighting,” Hegseth said. Without predictable orders, he added, “Uncertain projections … made the defense industrial base risk-averse, slow, lethargic, just like government,” and “The companies that served government started looking like government, falling behind on budget, everything costing more, ever-changing and insane requirements; scheduling overruns became the norm.”

He said the War Department plans to use funding within the fiscal 2027 presidential budget request to strengthen both the military and the industrial base and reiterated his call for stable demand. “We will build the arsenal of freedom … and in the coming months, we will ensure that all of that $1.5 trillion is funded, so that our department, working with great companies like this one, can provide it,” he said. “We need to give companies like Oshkosh stable, clear and consistent demand signals so that you can plan ahead, make more investments and create more American jobs. … No more offshoring, outsourcing — [only] American-made, American manufacturing, American muscle, American jobs.”