This Week in DOW: Strengthening the Defense Industrial Base, JAGs Assist Immigration Mission in Minnesota, Protecting America's Caribbean Backyard

Defense contractors in Texas this week got a visit from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth as part of his ongoing Arsenal of Freedom tour, which started earlier this month as a way to grow and strengthen America's defense industrial base.

"While at SpaceX, Secretary Hegseth delivered a speech on [artificial intelligence] dominance and urged the Department of War and our defense industrial base to harness the power of AI," Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said today during the department's Weekly Sitrep video. "The AI race is one we can't lose, and it is one that we will win. It is crucial that we integrate this technology to continue to supply our American military with the best and most lethal equipment."

Hegseth made several announcements during the tour this week, including that Undersecretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael will serve as the department's chief technology officer and that Cameron Stanley will serve as the Pentagon's chief digital and artificial intelligence officer.

At SpaceX, the secretary announced that Grok, an AI assistant designed by the company xAI, will be the next addition to the GenAI.mil capability, which was made available last month.

"We will have the world's leading AI models on every unclassified and classified network throughout our department - long overdue," Hegseth said.

Part of the secretary's pledge to advance AI in the department involved eliminating barriers to technological progress.

"We will take a wartime approach to people and policies that block this progress," Hegseth said. "Barriers to data sharing, authority to operate ... test and evaluation and contracting are now treated as operational risks, not simply bureaucratic inconveniences; we are blowing up these barriers."

One example of that, Wilson said, is a decision on an array of advisory boards.

"Effective immediately, advisory boards that stifled innovation in the department and bogged down delivery to the warfighters have been completely dismantled," Wilson said. "We have cut the red tape, removed the bureaucracy and simplified the process, so that our top innovators can deliver the best technology to our warfighters, fast."

In Minnesota, the department is working with law enforcement and Justice Department partners by assigning military judge advocates to assist the U.S. attorney's office with its mission there.

"As special assistant United States attorneys in Minneapolis, department JAGs will provide crucial legal support in Minnesota, and help our interagency partners as they deliver justice, restore order and protect the American people," Wilson said, adding that a new task force to counter the nefarious action of drug cartels will be a part of defending the homeland and protecting the American people.

"The Department of War, in coordination with the Homeland Security Council, unveiled the Joint Interagency Task Force Counter Cartel," she said. "This task force's mission is to coordinate all U.S. government resources deployed to or supporting the efforts in the [U.S. Northern Command] area of responsibility to identify, disrupt and dismantle cartel operations along the U.S.-Mexico border."

Yesterday, Air Force Brig. Gen. Maurizio Calabrese was appointed as the task force director.

The JIATF-CC is expected to work with the Homeland Security Task Force National Coordination Center to ensure the sharing of intelligence among the War Department, law enforcement and intelligence community partners. This will guarantee operations across the whole-of-government are synchronized and coordinated to have the greatest effect possible on eliminating narco-terrorism networks.

Yesterday morning, in predawn action, Marines and sailors with Joint Task Force Southern Spear apprehended the oil tanker Veronica without incident.

"The Veronica is the latest tanker operating in defiance of President [Donald J.] Trump's established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean - proving the effectiveness of Operation Southern Spear yet again," Wilson said.

Also this week, the department announced it is refocusing the mission of long-time military newspaper Stars and Stripes, which was first published during the Civil War.

"By revitalizing this historic publication, Stars and Stripes will continue its legacy by delivering real news that is custom-tailored to our service members," Wilson said.

Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said the War Department will modernize the operations of Stars and Stripes and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members.

"It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and all things military," he said. "Stars and Stripes has a proud legacy of reporting news that's important to our service members. The Department of War is committed to ensuring the outlet continues to reflect that proud legacy."