Hegseth Unveils 6 Major US Military Changes in ‘State of the Force’ Address - Newsweek

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled six major initiatives Wednesday aimed at reshaping how the U.S. military fights, recruits and prepares for future wars.

“If we’re going to prevent and avoid war, we must prepare now,” Hegseth told troops at Marine Corps Base Quantico during his State of the Force address.

The initiatives include a new four-star command dedicated to autonomous warfare, a new national officer-development program and a sweeping effort to strengthen military bases and supply chains against attack.

Hegseth also announced plans for a new major military installation, a new Office of Religious Affairs and Project Meridian, a 120-day effort to identify technologies that could give the United States an advantage in future conflicts. The project will be co-directed by Elon Musk, defense-tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

The changes come as the United States remains engaged in a seven-month war with Iran, where U.S. forces have faced sustained drone and missile attacks. The war has put a renewed focus on the vulnerabilities of American bases, the need for large stocks of precision munitions and the growing role of drones and autonomous systems.

“The pace of war is changing faster than the process to support it," Hegseth said. "Cheap compute, superintelligence, and advanced commercial manufacturing have enabled the proliferation of low-cost, high-precision strike.”

Hegseth said that America's military remained "the strongest" but that "need to get stronger and quickly.”

The developments also come as the Pentagon draws down one of its longstanding Middle East missions. The Defense Department announced Wednesday that U.S. forces had formally completed their combat mission in Iraq.

Hegseth separately confirmed plans to cut 20 percent of general and admiral billets, doubling the reduction target announced last year.

The speech marked the latest step in Hegseth’s effort to remake the military around what he calls “lethality,” “readiness” and the “warrior ethos”—but Wednesday’s announcements put a new emphasis on technology, infrastructure and preparing for the next generation of warfare.

The most significant operational change is the planned creation of an Autonomous Warfare Command, which Hegseth said will become a four-star functional combatant command by October 2027.

The command is intended to accelerate the military's use of autonomous and robotic systems, building on the Pentagon's “Drone Dominance” program and a new effort known as Project Agincourt.

The initiative reflects the rapid spread of drones and autonomous systems on modern battlefields, particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East. The Iran war has provided another test of the Pentagon's ability to defend against large numbers of drones and missiles while deploying its own increasingly sophisticated unmanned systems.

“Ukraine's lesson is not that one type of drone wins wars, but rather the need for a purpose-built system that maximizes the ability to adapt," Hegseth said.

What it could mean: Creating a dedicated four-star command would give autonomous warfare considerably more institutional weight and could speed development and deployment of new systems. It also creates a new senior command structure even as Hegseth seeks to reduce the number of senior military positions.

Hegseth announced America's Corps of Cadets, a program designed to expand the pipeline of officers coming from civilian universities with structured military programs.

Five universities—Louisiana State University, Liberty University, Tuskegee University, Mississippi State University and Hillsdale College—will join the initiative, alongside the nation's existing senior military colleges.

The Pentagon says participating schools will receive new “Distinguished Military College” and “Honor School” designations, with an emphasis on military discipline, constitutional principles, American history and leadership.

He also made clear his vision for the kind of recruit he wanted in the military.

“We are no longer the woke department or the weak department. No fatties. No trannies. No weirdos. No wimps. No radicals. Just warriors," he said.

What it could mean: The program could broaden the pool of universities producing military officers while giving the Pentagon a greater role in shaping their preparation before commissioning.

It also represents one of the clearest examples of Hegseth's effort to change military culture. His tenure has featured repeated calls for a stronger “warrior ethos” and a focus on what he describes as traditional military values.

FORTRESS America is an initiative aimed at making the military less vulnerable to disruptions in power, supply chains and communications.

The initiative calls for major U.S. military installations to generate their own power, reducing their dependence on the civilian electrical grid and allowing bases to keep operating during a cyberattack, sabotage or other disruption. It calls for the Pentagon to bring more critical defense supply chains into the United States, including rare earths, specialty metals, semiconductors and propellants, while building larger reserves of munitions, fuel, medicine and other supplies.

FORTRESS (Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability) also calls for greater protection against cyberattacks, sabotage and drones and for stronger satellite and communications resilience.

What it could mean: FORTRESS America would shift more Pentagon attention toward the infrastructure behind military operations. In a prolonged conflict, the ability to produce and replace weapons could become as important as the weapons themselves.

The Iran war has underscored that problem, with repeated drone and missile attacks placing pressure on U.S. and allied bases and air defenses.

Hegseth also announced plans for the Next Great American Base, with states invited to compete for the new major military base.

The Pentagon plans to build the base from the ground up with its own independent power supply, autonomous systems and advanced air defenses, creating a purpose-built installation rather than upgrading existing military infrastructure. Hegseth also called for classical architecture and “beautiful” civic design, reflecting the administration's broader push for traditional government architecture.

Governors and adjutants general are invited to propose sites and packages of land and infrastructure.

What it could mean: The project could create a purpose-built test bed for autonomous systems, resilient energy and modern air defenses while generating significant economic activity for the state that ultimately wins the competition. It also represents a major construction project at a time when Hegseth is pursuing reductions elsewhere in the military bureaucracy.

Hegseth's fifth initiative is the creation of an Office of Religious Affairs reporting directly to the secretary. The office would advocate for military chaplaincies, address policy barriers and ensure service members have access to voluntary religious support.

The Pentagon says it will not compel religious participation or favor a particular faith, and that personnel of any faith—or no faith—will retain their rights.

What it could mean: The office would elevate religious affairs within the Pentagon and give chaplains a direct advocate at the highest levels of the department.

The initiative also reflects Hegseth's broader argument that military readiness involves more than physical fitness and weapons training, extending to what he describes as the moral and spiritual resilience of troops.

The most unconventional initiative may be Project Meridian, a 120-day effort to identify the technologies and capabilities the United States will need to maintain military superiority in future conflicts.

The project will be co-directed by Musk, Luckey and Gingrich, with Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael facilitating the effort.

The group will examine future warfare across domains ranging from underground environments to the cislunar frontier. The final product will include an unclassified report and classified annex.

What it could mean: Project Meridian is an attempt to bring private-sector technology leaders directly into long-term military planning and accelerate the transition from emerging technology to military capability. Musk brings experience in space and satellite technology, while Luckey's Anduril has become a major defense-technology company focused heavily on autonomous systems.

The arrangement could help the Pentagon tap expertise outside its traditional bureaucracy, while also raising questions about conflicts of interest and the role of private companies in shaping government priorities.

Hegseth separately announced plans to cut 20 percent of general and admiral billets across the military, doubling the reduction target announced last year.

The defense secretary described the senior-officer reductions as an effort to make the military more accountable and less top-heavy. “I call it accountability and long overdue,” he said.

The cuts apply to positions, not necessarily to the officers currently holding them. Some general and admiral billets could be redesignated for lower-ranking officers, while others would be eliminated altogether. Hegseth has now doubled the reduction target announced last year.

Several senators, however, questioned the scale and rationale of the changes. Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former Navy combat pilot and NASA astronaut who has been critical of Hegseth, characterized the personnel changes as a “purge” of the military’s senior ranks.

“He’s got some kind of like deep-seated grievance about leadership in the military,” Kelly said. “He’s purging a generation of great leaders of the military, and it’s going to take a generation to recover from it.”

Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he wanted to hear more about Hegseth’s reasoning.

“If it’s simply a matter of eliminating a very heavy top, there may be some validity to it, but I want to see it first,” Rounds said.

Hegseth is pursuing the overhaul as the United States fights a major war with Iran and as lessons from Ukraine continue to reshape thinking about modern combat. In Ukraine, inexpensive drones, autonomous systems and rapid battlefield innovation have transformed how forces conduct reconnaissance and strike operations. The Iran war is testing other vulnerabilities, including the ability to protect U.S. bases from missiles and drones and maintain sufficient stocks of munitions for a sustained conflict.

Those wars provide an immediate backdrop to Hegseth's push to reorganize the Pentagon around autonomous weapons, more resilient bases and supply chains, and faster development of new technology. His second State of the Force address moves beyond the cultural and personnel changes that dominated his first year and lays out a broader attempt to reshape the force for the way the Pentagon expects future wars to be fought.

The announcements set ambitious goals, but turning them into a new military reality will take time. Their impact will depend on funding, congressional support and how quickly the military services can turn Hegseth’s plans into capabilities in the field.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Edward T. Cummins