Exclusive By: Kanwal Abidi
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wrapped up the first segment of his Arsenal of Freedom tour today by paying a visit to a pair of defense industry companies in Camden, Arkansas.
The nationwide tour shows the War Department’s support for the defense industrial base by delivering a call to action to revitalize America’s manufacturing might and reenergize the nation’s workforce.
During visits to General Dynamics and L3Harris, Hegseth delivered remarks hitting on themes that have become the cornerstones of the Arsenal of Freedom tour.
Among those themes were thanking DIB workers for all they do to support the warfighters by equipping them, encouraging industry to continue being innovative, and a call to keep building more materiel, while also building it faster.
“Thank you for being the backbone of our department and our great nation [and] for having the backs of our war fighters because what you build right here in Camden is absolutely central to the 21st-century arsenal of freedom,” Hegseth told a crowd of more than 1,500 employees at the L3Harris facility.
“The technology that you build for our missiles, interceptors and hypersonic weapons is what allows the War Department to achieve peace through strength, and that mission comes with a nonnegotiable mandate from the War Department [and] straight from the Resolute Desk and President [Donald J.] Trump,” he added.
Another core theme Hegseth underscored is that of reducing bloat and lethargy in the DIB, a topic the secretary has consistently brought up since the tour began last month.
Hegseth praised L3Harris for having “set the pace” for the rest of the DIB through the company’s speed and proficiency in production.
“For far too long, our defense and aerospace industry was a giant swamp, much like Washington. … Those companies moved at a snail’s pace, led by CEOs who cared more about their stock options and golden parachutes than delivering for those on the front lines,” Hegseth said.
He added that, for too long, many in business, academia and politics believed that outsourcing defense contracting overseas was the best course of action for the American defense industry.
“Well, let them tell that to these great workers and these great patriots at L3,” Hegseth said, eliciting a loud and enthusiastic response from the audience.
Hegseth finished his remarks at L3Harris by assuring the company’s employees that he and the entire Trump administration have their backs and the backs of the entire U.S. industrial base.
He added that, when visiting industry, he always asks leadership what is needed to fully support the workers so they, in turn, can support the warfighters.
“Those are the questions I’m asking. My job is to serve [the warfighters] and your job is to serve them. And if the Pentagon is doing that, and industry is doing that, we have a fighting chance to ensure that the arsenal of freedom lives not just for a generation but for our kids and for our grandkids,” Hegseth said.
Prior to arriving at L3Harris and just after delivering brief remarks at General Dynamics, Hegseth took time to administer the oath of enlistment to 40 recruits.
It’s a practice the secretary committed to on every stop of the Arsenal of Freedom tour, with a total of more than 260 enlistees having sworn into military service since the tour began.
Beginning with a visit to a shipyard in Newport News, Virginia, Jan. 5, and ending today in Arkansas, the first phase of the tour also traveled to Texas, California, Rhode Island, Maine, Missouri, Florida and Colorado over the course of seven and a half weeks.
The title of the tour harkens back to the “Arsenal of Democracy,” wherein the U.S. conducted a massive industrial mobilization by transforming its domestic manufacturing base into the primary supplier of war materiel for Allied nations beginning just prior to the start of World War II.
