Secretary Hegseth Announces Six Major Initiatives at Quantico Speech

Sept. 30, 2026 |

Over the last two years under Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's leadership, the Department has been relentlessly reshaped to focus on lethality, the warfighters, and rapid modernization. Today, the Secretary continues that momentum by unveiling six major strategic initiatives that will govern the Department's direction for years to come. 

Speaking directly to active-duty E-6s and O-3s at Marine Corps Base Quantico, the Secretary bypassed traditional Pentagon bureaucracy to brief the tactical-level officers and non-commissioned officers who will execute these reforms at the ground level. The Secretary's framework establishes the Autonomous Warfare Command, creates a new Corps of Cadets, launches the "FORTRESS" (Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability) readiness program, initiates the Next Great American Base project, stands up the Office of Religious Affairs, and kicks off Project Meridian, signaling a bold new era of warfighter-first leadership.

Autonomous Warfare Command
The establishment of the Autonomous Warfare Command represents the fastest peacetime operational shift in modern military history, designed to scale autonomous warfare across the Joint Force as a 4-star functional combatant command by October 1, 2027. Building on the success of the Department's Drone Dominance program, which has delivered thousands of robotic systems to the Middle East in support of Operation Epic Fury, the Secretary is directing DRPM UxS to lead Project Agincourt.
 
To lead this historic transition, Secretary Hegseth appointed Owen West, the current Director of DIU, and Navy SEAL Senior Chief Max Strasiser, the first enlisted SEAL to graduate from Navy Test Pilot School, to direct DRPM UxS under a unique CEO-COO partnership.

Please find the memo creating the Autonomous Warfare Command here. 

America's Corps of Cadets
America's Corps of Cadets is a new War Department program established to expand the pipeline of patriotic leaders of character commissioning into the Joint Force. Building on the existing Corps of Cadets at the nation's six Senior Military Colleges, the initiative partners with a new set of premier institutions—Louisiana State University, Liberty University, Tuskegee University, Mississippi State University, and Hillsdale College—to create additional full-time Corps of Cadets programs. Each participating school is designated a "Distinguished Military College," a revived category that requires exceptionally high standards of cadet discipline, tactical instruction, and military organization. These institutions also receive "Honor School" status, which provides priority in officer commissioning. The program addresses the need for more officers grounded in the Constitution, Western civilization, American heritage, and the warrior ethos at a time when many traditional commissioning sources have drifted from those foundations. By embedding continuous military discipline and leadership development into these new partner schools, America's Corps of Cadets aims to grow the number of officers who are patriotic, rigorous, and prepared to lead and defend the Republic.

Please find the memo for America's Corps of Cadets here. 

FORTRESS America
FORTRESS America (Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability) is the Department of War's national insurance policy for the American homeland. Launched at the direction of the Secretary of War, it ends decades of quiet dependence that left the world's most powerful military reliant on foreign mines for rare earths, overseas factories for microchips, foreign supply chains for weapons, and the civilian power grid to keep bases operational.

The initiative ensures that every major U.S. military installation generates its own independent power so bases remain lit, aircraft fly, and command centers stay online even if the civilian grid is taken down by cyberattack or sabotage. It brings critical supply chains home—rare earths, specialty metals, semiconductors, and propellants—mined, refined, and built in America by American workers. It builds deep strategic reserves of munitions, fuel, medicine, and blood sufficient to fight through disruption when global supply lines break. It hardens every installation on American soil against cyber intrusion, sabotage, and drones. And it secures the high ground and the airwaves—satellites, spectrum, and the ability to see, navigate, and communicate—so the force is never blinded or silenced.

Please find the memo for FORTRESS America here. 

Next Great American Base
The Next Great American Base project rejects the legacy playbook of decaying military facilities, launching a bold initiative to build a premier, world-class power projection platform from the ground up. This state-of-the-art installation will host elite troops across hundreds of thousands of acres. Engineered to operate completely off the commercial grid, it will feature independent power generation, autonomous systems, and advanced air defenses.
 
In line with the President's executive orders on Beautiful Civic Architecture, the base will feature timeless, classical designs, providing first-class facilities. Rather than backroom deals, the Department is launching a transparent, merit-based competition, inviting governors and adjutants general to pitch their plans directly to senior leadership. The state that cuts the most red tape and offers the best package of land and support will win the historic honor of hosting the most lethal, modern, and beautiful military installation on the planet.

Please find the memo for Next Great American Base here. 

Office of Religious Affairs
The Department of War is elevating spiritual readiness as a core element of combat effectiveness with the establishment of the Office of Religious Affairs, a direct-report office to the Secretary of War charged with driving Department-wide policy, resource advocacy, and action. Wars are fought by people, and the strength of the force depends not only on weapons, training, and technology, but also on the resilience, conviction, and moral strength of those who serve. ORA will ensure religious affairs are no longer dispersed across distant bureaucratic layers, giving senior leaders a dedicated capability to protect free exercise, remove policy barriers, identify unmet requirements, and secure the support needed for the Service chaplaincies to succeed. 

The Service chaplaincies will remain the Department's primary providers of religious support; ORA will give them a powerful advocate at the highest level of the Department. The office will not compel religious participation, favor one faith, or diminish the rights of personnel of any faith or lack thereof. Instead, it will help ensure every member of the Force has voluntary, meaningful access to religious support and community that fosters purpose and resilience needed to endure hardship, deployment, combat, and loss.

Please find the memo for Office of Religious Affairs here. 

Project Meridian
Secretary Hegseth has commissioned Project Meridian to secure America's long-term military superiority by identifying the capabilities required to achieve absolute technological dominance on the next-generation battlefield. Project Meridian will examine the full spectrum of future warfighting domains, from subterranean depths to the cislunar frontier. The Department of War's Chief Technology Officer, Emil Michael, is facilitating the Department's commissioning of Project Meridian, which will be co-directed by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich, and supported by a team of elite academic, policy, and industry experts. To ensure timely execution, Secretary Hegseth has directed this landmark project to be completed within 120 days of its establishment, culminating in an unclassified, publicly released final report containing critical findings and recommendations, accompanied by a classified annex.

By leveraging the nation's premier private-sector innovators, business leaders, and technologists, Project Meridian will discover and accelerate the fielding of advanced systems needed to guarantee decisive deterrence. Should deterrence fail, our warfighters must enter any future conflict with the technological advantage secured through today's foresight, resolve, and preparation. American victory requires informing our Arsenal of Freedom with the lethal effects needed to sustain peace through strength. Project Meridian will present the proactive vision for shaping American dominance in the future of warfare.

Please find the memo for Project Meridian here. 

Readout of 17th U.S.-Qatar Military Consultative Commission and 21st U.S.-Bahrain Military Consultative Committee

Sept. 30, 2026 |

From September 20-25, Deputy Assistant Secretary of War (DASW) for Near East and Central Asia Michael P. DiMino IV traveled to Qatar and Bahrain to co-chair the 17th U.S.-Qatar Military Consultative Commission (MCC) and 21st U.S.-Bahrain Military Consultative Committee (MCC) alongside representatives of the Joint Staff, U.S. Central Command, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, and the Department of State.

In Doha, DASW DiMino led the 17th annual U.S.-Qatar MCC alongside Qatar Major General Ali Al Kuwari. The delegations exchanged views on regional security and identified priority efforts to further enhance Qatar's defensive capabilities and interoperability with U.S. forces. Qatar agreed to explore expansion of its maintenance and sustainment facilities for common platforms, including PATRIOT, and strengthen cooperation in defense-relevant critical minerals. DASW DiMino also met with Qatar's Minister of Defense, Sheikh Saoud Al Thani and Qatar's Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Jassim Al Mannai and visited U.S. forces at Al Udeid Air Base.

In Manama, DASW DiMino co-chaired the 21st U.S.-Bahrain MCC with Bahrain's Minister of Defense Affairs H.E. Lieutenant General Abdullah Al-Noaimi. The delegations assessed regional security challenges and discussed opportunities for Bahrain to continue integrating with U.S. forces and investing in its defensive counter-air capabilities, including the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS). Bahrain also committed to participate in Task Force Falcon Strike, CENTCOM's multi-domain, multi-national drone task force, enabling Bahraini forces to increasingly leverage these capabilities in support of regional deterrence.

Hegseth Delivers 'State of the Force' Address, Outlines Series of New Initiatives

Sept. 30, 2026 | By Matthew Olay, Pentagon News |

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered a speech on the status of the military today, during which he announced six new initiatives for the War Department. 

Speaking to both a broadcast audience and 600 O-3 officers and E-6 enlisted service members at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, Hegseth began by recounting the successful progress he has seen across the department over the past year. 

"For almost two years, you've heard me talk — over and over — about three core priorities: reviving the warrior ethos, rebuilding our military and reestablishing deterrence. And I'm proud to stand on this stage and report that the warrior ethos has been revived, our military is being rebuilt and American deterrence is back," he said early in his remarks. 

The secretary went on to emphasize the high recruitment and retention numbers over the past year, mention that military standards that existed in 1990 are back in 2026 and discuss the "E-6/O-3 Rule" — the concept that asks whether a policy, procedure or decision helps or hinders the operational effectiveness and daily reality of an E-6 and/or O-3. 

"We fight to win. Clear missions, full hearts, hands untied. It's all I ever wanted as a platoon leader, and it's all my E-6 squad leaders ever wanted. … We let our leaders fight their formations, and then we have their back. It's simple, yet you know in your business it's incredibly powerful and liberating," Hegseth said. 

After recapping the past year and reemphasizing the War Department's priorities of strengthening the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military and maintaining peace through strength via deterrence, Hegseth outlined his six new initiatives: 

• The creation of a new 4-star level combatant command: Autonomous Warfare Command. 
• An effort to study the future of warfare titled "Project Meridian." 
• A future program that aims to align basing and infrastructure projects to ensure they are collectively advancing toward greater independence titled, federal operations for resilience, troop resources, energy, supply and survivability, or "Fortress America." 
• Calling for a new, state-of-the-art military installation through a project titled, "The Next Great American Base." 
• Expanding the ranks of future leaders commissioning into the joint force through a program that expands military training beyond the country's military service academies and six military colleges to additional institutions of higher learning, titled "America's Corps of Cadets." 
• Establishing an Office of Religious Affairs. 

Regarding the new combatant command, Autowarcom, Hegseth said that once established, it will focus on building autonomous and robotic capabilities across the joint force in "the fastest peacetime shift in modern history." 

Additionally, the secretary announced that he has directed the direct reporting portfolio manager for unmanned systems to lead "Project Agincourt," an organization that will establish the pathway for Autowarcom, as well as to execute the existing unmanned systems mission while prototyping a new acquisition model. 

Hegseth also said new military occupational specialties will be created in each military department to support the shift to autonomy. 

"Today, with … Autowarcom, we institutionalize — and we supercharge — the era of [super intelligence], robotics and autonomous systems, all in order to win," he said. 

Turning next to Project Meridian, Hegseth said the Pentagon's chief technology officer would partner with members of the private sector to study the future of warfare, and that the project is not about developing new strategies or policies. 

"Rather, its purpose is to creatively look into the future and identify the domains we must conquer, and capabilities we must master … to achieve technological and military dominance on the battlefield for decades to come; it is futuristic, on purpose," Hegseth said. 

Regarding the Fortress America program, Hegseth said it calls for every American military installation to eventually run under its own power, hardening every installation on American soil against intrusion and bringing critical supply chains home. 

"No matter the circumstance, this department will have the power, the equipment and the supplies you need to take the fight to the enemy. … The Department of War will be the insurance policy for the entire nation," he said. 

Hegseth's talk of Fortress America then segued into discussing the concept behind The Next Great American Base project, which he said will be a dynamic, self-sustaining power projection platform, and that leaders of every state in the union would be able to provide a "sales pitch" as to why the new installation should be in their state. 

"If your state wants the honor of hosting 15,000 to 25,000 of America's great troops, show us why and how you're going to do it — cutting through the red tape, offering up the land and rolling out the red carpet for our military families," Hegseth said. 

Regarding America's Corps of Cadets, the secretary said the Pentagon is partnering with six universities to increase the number of leaders who can commission into the military.  

"By embedding continuous military discipline and leadership development into new institutions — by growing our Corps of Cadets — the War Department will ensure our republic is defended by even more officers of unwavering character and patriotism," Hegseth said. 

Turning to his final of the six initiatives, that of the Office of Religious Affairs, Hegseth said religious services in the military have been neglected and bureaucratized for too long. 

"Ninety-five percent of our force recognizes an Almighty God. Accordingly, our department has a sacred duty: first-class religious support, wherever we send our warriors," Hegseth said. He also noted that the new office will report directly to the secretary of war's office to cut through red tape. 

"This is not going to be a paper-pushing shop; it's going to have real teeth. It'll protect budgets, demand infrastructure and strengthen religious support," Hegseth said. 

The secretary emphasized that the six announcements were all for the warfighters, as he and the War Department view them as the top 1% of society. 

"You are warriors; with that title comes great expectations. So, go forth this day and do good things, hard things. President [Donald J.] Trump has your back, and so do I," Hegseth said. 

"We are the War Department, and we never back down — Godspeed," he concluded. 

Today's State of the Force speech came exactly one year to the day since Hegseth announced a series of new directives aimed at strengthening the War Department's people and culture to the U.S. military's most senior leaders, also at Quantico.