Defense Secretary Hegseth visits Offutt Air Force Base on ‘Arsenal of Freedom’ tour
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was in the Omaha metro on Monday, paying a visit to U.S. Strategic Command.
The stop at STRATCOM, was part of his “Arsenal of Freedom” tour, which also includes a visit to the Oshkosh Corp. in Oshkosh, Wis., a defense manufacturer. The tour is meant to “highlight the urgent need to rebuild our Defense Industrial Base” in order to bolster the Trump administration’s “peace through strength agenda,” according to a Department of Defense news release sent over the weekend.
U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt is an integral part of that strategy, Hegseth said in an address to STRATCOM personnel on Monday morning.
Offutt is at the heart of the United States’ “100% credible threat of nuclear deterrents” that Americans expect the president to have at their fingertips.
“That is the absolute bedrock that keeps us — our people, our nation — free. Full stop,” he said.
STRATCOM also has to be ready at all times, Hegseth said.
“Nothing else matters,” he said.
Those at STRATCOM have to be able to conduct their duties across “subsea and space” without distractions, Hegseth said.
“It’s pretty simple when it comes to what President Trump asks me to do: It’s put America first —Americans, American citizens, our terrain, our people — first. It’s peace through strength, and this place is the bedrock of ‘peace through strength,’” Hegseth told Offutt personnel. “And then it’s apply common sense throughout the entirety of our formations, and that gets to reviving the warrior ethos… putting commanders back in charge to ensure that standards can be enforced, and clearly and equally across our formations. No more distraction of social engineering and DEI and social justice stuff. That’s good for academia and colleges and universities. Inside our formations we do merit-based, colorblind, gender-neutral, full stop. That’s it. And we don’t want commanders walking on eggshells when they enforce the basics, like accountability, like standards, like readiness.”
He said he is using the “warrior ethos” to rebuild our military and that the president is constantly pushing him to move that agenda forward faster. The Trump administration wants $1.5 trillion to make a generational investment in U.S. defense capabilities and “operate at the speed of business.”
During his visit, Hegseth also toured the battle deck and saw a demo of detracting incoming missiles while meeting with key personnel.
Ricketts news conference
Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts were also at Offutt on Monday.
After Hegseth’s visit, Ricketts held a news conference at his Omaha office, saying the visit gave Offutt officials an opportunity to showcase STRATCOM capabilities and discuss opportunities for expanded missions, though Ricketts told news media there was no discussion about foreign surveillance.
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