DOW Restructures Foreign Military Sales, Prioritizes Speed, Efficiency

Feb. 10, 2026 | By C. Todd Lopez, Pentagon News |

In a video posted on social media today, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that the War Department moved two agencies critical to getting American-made combat gear into the hands of allied and partner nations under the War Department's Office of Acquisition and Sustainment. 

"On Nov. 7, we laid out the Department of War's vision for strengthening the defense sales enterprise," Hegseth said. "Today, we're turning that vision into decisive action." 

Both the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the Defense Technology Security Administration are part of how the United States helps partners and allies get access to American-made weapons and equipment. They will now fall under the Office of the Undersecretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment, led by Michael P. Duffey, according to the memorandum. 

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, for instance, is largely responsible for facilitating the sale of U.S. weapons to partners and allies. However, the agency is also responsible for developing and planning the long-term partnerships and training opportunities that accompany those sales. The Defense Technology Security Administration is responsible for identifying and mitigating any risks associated with transferring technology to partners and allies. 

By moving both agencies under the department's Office of Acquisition and Sustainment, Hegseth aims to make weapons sales to allies and partners faster and more efficient, as well as help revitalize America's defense industrial base. 

"This executive order is our mandate: leverage America's record-breaking defense sales to revitalize our industrial base and support our partners," Hegseth said. "On nearly every overseas trip that I take, the demand is clear, every single time; our allies want to buy the world's most lethal weapons: American weapons." 

The realignment, Duffey said, has created a single coherent defense sales enterprise within the department, one that moves at the speed of war, but with the purpose of deterring aggression. 

"Coupled with this new executive order, we're now positioned to leverage the total aggregated global demand for U.S. weapons to grow our nation's industrial might, while maintaining the American warfighters' technological edge," he added. 

Duffey noted that the changes will unlock foreign investment, power production lines, fuel investments in new American manufacturing plants and create thousands of new jobs in the U.S. 

"When we promise to provide American military capabilities, we must deliver," Hegseth said. "Thanks to President [Donald J.] Trump's leadership, these efforts are game changers for the way we do business with our allies and partners around the globe: more and better weapons delivered faster for our warfighters and our allies."

Department of War Name Set in Bronze at Pentagon Entrances

 Nov. 13, 2025 | By C. Todd Lopez, Pentagon News |

At the Pentagon today, facilities personnel took down outdated bronze plaques at two of the building's entrances and replaced them with recently minted plaques bearing the new name of the federal agency that leads America's fighting force: "Department of War."

One of those new plaques was put up at the River Entrance, which faces the Potomac River and serves as the Pentagon's grand entrance. It's where Secretary of War Pete Hegseth greets counterparts from partner and allied nations, as well as other dignitaries and distinguished visitors. 

The Mall Entrance, which faces north toward the National Mall in Washington, also got a new sign. Outside that entrance are the Pentagon's helicopter landing pads. 

"We wanted to replace [the old signs] because we want everybody who comes through this door to know that we are deadly serious about the name change of this organization," Hegseth said. 

In early September, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order changing the name of the Defense Department back to the War Department — a name the department held for more than 150 years, from 1789 to 1947. 

Construction on the Pentagon began in 1941 and was completed in 1943. When the building opened that year, it housed the Department of War. In fact, the dedication stone on the Pentagon — located outside the Mall Entrance — has "War Department" engraved at the top, along with the names of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was president at the time, and Henry L. Stimson, who served as Secretary of War from 1940 to 1945. 

Now, the Pentagon again houses the War Department. 

"We love everything that the Department of Defense represented," Hegseth said. "But this is a new era of the Department of War that is focused on winning wars ... and making sure that we know exactly what the mission is and that the troops are sent there to succeed and win." 

The name "Department of War," Hegseth said, harkens back to America's founding. 

"[We are] reestablishing [the department] back to Henry Knox and George Washington and the founding of our nation — to fight and win our nation's wars if called upon," he said. "And of course, the whole goal is to deter wars in the first place ... to establish peace." 

The new name also reflects a new ethos for the department, Hegseth said, after he personally fastened the last screw on the new River Entrance plaque. 

"We are rebuilding it; we are reestablishing deterrence — it's based on America first, peace through strength and common sense," he said. "And now everybody that enters this building, whether it's generals or civilians or foreign leaders, is going to see: this is not just on paper. This is not just a title. This is exactly who we are." 

The new bronze plaques are each roughly 30 by 20 inches and weigh about 60 pounds. 

The old plaques, which say "Department of Defense," had been on the building for more than 70 years, Hegseth said.