Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a ‘State of the Force’ address to 600 active-duty Marines and officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on September 30. The event, held in the same venue as his prior address a year ago, included troops at the E-6 and O-3 ranks and featured a small black book titled The War Department distributed to attendees. The book contained several of Hegseth’s speeches as secretary, with a foreword from former President Donald Trump.
The speech marked Hegseth’s second annual ‘State of the Force’ address, following his initial delivery at the same location on September 30 of the prior year. Attendees began arriving 45 minutes before the event, with country music playing as they filed into the auditorium. The event also included special guests, including Palmer Luckey, according to one of the source reports.
The Pentagon described the address as an assessment of the military’s current state and future direction. No further details about the content of the speech were provided in the available reports. The event was attended exclusively by active-duty service members, with no civilian or media representatives mentioned in the coverage.