Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a sweeping “State of the Force” address to service members on September 30, using the platform to issue blunt directives on military standards — including a jab at “beardos” — while detailing plans to overhaul the armed forces.

“We are no longer the woke department or the weak department,” Hegseth declared at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. “Simple translation of that: no fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors.”

He laid out six major initiatives aimed at shifting the Defense Department — which the Trump administration moved to rename the Department of War — toward rapid modernization and autonomous warfare. And instead of the hundreds of generals and admirals who sat through his previous address, this year’s audience comprised lower-ranked active-duty officers and non-commissioned officers.

“Allow me to lay it out simply for the anti-American losers in our media,” Hegseth said. “You, this group, are ensuring that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.”

During the address, Hegseth outlined several structural changes to military operations:

Autonomous Warfare Command

The Pentagon is establishing a new Autonomous Warfare Command designed to scale up robotic and automated combat systems across all branches. Set to operate as a four-star combatant command by October 2027, the effort builds on recent drone deployments in the Middle East.

“The pace of war is changing faster than the process to support it,” Hegseth said. “The autonomous robotic revolution has enormous implications for equipment, doctrine, organization, and the assumptions that have governed warfare for decades.”

The initiative will be directed by Defense Innovation Unit Director Owen West and Navy SEAL Senior Chief Max Strasiser.

Project Meridian

Hegseth announced the creation of Project Meridian, a 120-day panel set up to figure out what military technology the U.S. will need for future battlefields. However, he offered few specific details during the address about what capabilities the initiative would actually focus on.

The panel will be co-directed by Elon Musk, defense entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, with facilitation by the department’s chief technology officer, Emil Michael.

“Those three great Americans are going to be joined by a team of senior leaders, handpicked private sector leaders and subject matter experts from across our nation’s unmatched innovation, academic and policy ecosystems,” Hegseth said.

Next Great American Base

Plans were unveiled for a massive, off-grid military installation spanning hundreds of thousands of acres. Hegseth promised a “transparent” bidding process to launch what he called a new “gold standard” military facility built for the first time in 40 years.

The department is inviting state governors to compete for the site, favoring whichever state eliminates regulatory hurdles and provides the most favorable land package. The design requires classical architecture, following executive orders on federal buildings.

Given President Donald Trump’s affinity for major real estate developments and putting his name on buildings, the project has sparked speculation that it could be named after him.

America’s Corps of Cadets

To expand officer commissioning sources, the military is launching “America’s Corps of Cadets.”

The program establishes specialized cadet programs at five partner institutions: Louisiana State University, Liberty University, Tuskegee University, Mississippi State University, and Hillsdale College. Designated as “Distinguished Military Colleges,” these schools will receive priority status for officer commissioning.

Hegseth praised the schools for producing “patriotic leaders of character” and criticized other legacy institutions as “anti-American, DEI-worshiping, woke factories.”

Despite holding degrees from Princeton and Harvard, Hegseth explicitly targeted Ivy League institutions.

“You see, the Ivy League faculty lounges, they’ll never understand you, and that’s OK because they could never ever do what you do,” he told the audience.

FORTRESS America

The administration is launching “FORTRESS America,” short for “Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy Supply, and Survivability.”

Framed by Hegseth as a “national insurance policy,” the policy mandates that major U.S. installations develop independent power sources capable of operating if the commercial electric grid fails.

It also directs the domestic mining and manufacturing of essential materials, including rare earth metals, microchips and propellants, to eliminate reliance on foreign suppliers.

Office of Religious Affairs

Hegseth announced the creation of a dedicated Office of Religious Affairs reporting directly to the defense secretary, saying the unit would “protect budgets, demand infrastructure, and strengthen religious support.”

The office is designed to oversee departmental policy regarding religious support and chaplaincy programs, which officials stated would focus on troop resilience while maintaining voluntary access to services across all faiths.