WASHINGTON — A fired-up Secretary of War Pete Hegseth unveiled plans to construct the first new military base on US soil in over four decades and have state governors come before him on camera with “their best sales pitch.”
Hegseth unveiled plans for the new base as part of six new initiatives during his culture war-heavy “State of the Force” address to a gathering of many of the country’s enlisted military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
“We haven’t built a new base in this country in 40 years. That ends now,” Hegseth declared. “President Trump is a builder, and this project is about doing something bold, beautiful, and world-class for the great Americans who wear our nation’s uniform.”
The new base would host an estimated 15,000 to 25,000 troops, according to Hegseth, an Army veteran, who also promised the troops would get “first-class” barracks.
Governors and adjutant generals would make the pitch to Hegseth and his leadership team, livestreamed on camera for the country to see. President Trump might also participate in the selection process.
“In line with the president’s executive order on beautiful civic architecture, this base will be a proud fortress of our republic, built with timeless classical architecture,” Hegseth declared.
The US has about 750–800 known bases around the world in roughly 80 different countries; about 335 of them are domestic, according to data from Visual Capitalist. Every state has at least one, though the size varies considerably.
“For too long, our military has been bogged down by the same old tired Washington playbook: spend trillions on exquisite weapon systems while our troops live in aging bases, outdated barracks,” the secretary of war said. “Now we’re getting after it with the barracks task force. But it’s not enough.”
The Pentagon honcho rolled out five other major initiatives during his address and confirmed the department’s 20% reduction in general and flag officer positions.
First is the establishment of Autonomous Warfare Command, which will oversee rapid scaling of autonomous systems across the joint force. Second is a new America’s Corps of Cadets, which partners with largely conservative colleges and universities on new Corps of Cadets programs.
Third is the FORTRESS (Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability) America initiative, in which the Pentagon will aim to make bases self-sufficient, with their own independent power supplies, and a strategic reserve of munitions and other critical supplies.
Fourth is a new Office of Religious Affairs led by a chaplain to ensure that chaplaincies and places of worship on bases across the country have sufficient resources. And last was Project Meridian, a commission that will be led by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich to plan for the future of fighting.
Hegseth’s austere address before most of the packed room of junior officers and enlisted leaders was chock-full of brags about his culture war triumphs at the Department of War.
“We are no longer the woke department or the weak department. Simple translation of that: no fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors. Just tough, ready, committed troops,” the former Fox News host proclaimed.
“The ideological clowns are out. The patriotic cowboys are in, with testosterone testing on top,” he later added.
That’s a reference to his recent push for testosterone testing to ensure lethality. Hegseth also crowed about his reforms to impose “gender-neutral standards set at the highest male standard” for combat.
He also took a victory lap over the military’s performance in Iran, Venezuela, and elsewhere, before lashing out with rage at the media.
“Our so-called press makes Iranian state media look reasonable,” he fumed, blasting reporters as “anti-American.” “Our media is shameful. Lust for political retribution blinds them to the consequences of reckless so-called reporting. So-called journalists juiced up on Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
“A free press is, of course, important, but partisan activism that intentionally smears the troops and the historic mission that they’re undertaking is fundamentally anti-American,” he later added.
“It’s sick. It’s a national betrayal. It’s treason, actually.”
