This Week in DOW: 'DOD' Is Now 'DOW,' Hegseth Honors Newest Army Officers, Space Command Relocating, Narco-Terrorists Neutralized

This week, the Defense Department had a name change.

"In a historic move today, President [Donald J.] Trump has signed an executive order changing our name to the Department of War," Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said during the department's latest Weekly Sitrep video.

She went on to call the change essential, stating it reflects the department's core mission of delivering lethality, protecting the homeland, winning wars and going on offense to deliver a military presence with unmatched global combat power.

Created in large part due to the influence of President George Washington, the first U.S. Congress created the War Department in September 1789. The department's name remained the same for over 150 years until it merged with the Department of the Navy and the newly established Department of the Air Force to become the National Military Establishment with the passage of the 1947 National Security Act.

Less than two years later - and due in no small part to the initials "NME" sounding like "enemy" - the establishment was renamed the Department of Defense.

"Defense alone is not enough; we must be ready to strike and dominate," Wilson said in the video.

Yesterday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth traveled to Fort Benning, Georgia, to deliver remarks at the Army's Officer Candidate School graduation.

While speaking to the newly commissioned officers during the graduation ceremony, Hegseth spoke of new beginnings as they relate to the young graduates' careers.

"This is just the beginning for many of you. Not the beginning of a new career, but the beginning of a new chapter; a new journey where you will lead the finest soldiers and the finest Army the world has ever known," Hegseth told the graduates.

"We don't exist unless we have people like you," he continued. "You give me hope, so I wish you congratulations today. … Our nation needs you; go serve and go fight."

Wilson said in addition to delivering remarks, Hegseth also spoke with Army drill sergeants, engaged with soldiers attending the U.S. Army Airborne School and visited with soldiers assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment.

Earlier in the week, Hegseth joined Trump during his Sept. 2 announcement that U.S. Space Command - one of the Defense Department's 11 unified combatant commands - would be relocating from Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, to the Army's Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.

"What you're doing today, Mr. President, is restoring [Spacecom] to precisely where it should be, based on what the Space Force, the Air Force [and] your leadership [believe] will give us strategic advantage in the future," Hegseth told the president.

He added that while he believes the U.S. is winning the space race, the Spacecom move will ensure the country stays "leaps and bounds ahead," because space is the most important domain.

"Moving the Spacecom headquarters to Huntsville will not only better serve the military mission, it will also improve the quality of life for our warfighters and their families," Wilson said. "We can't wait to see what Spacecom will accomplish in 'Sweet Home Alabama.'"

Also on Sept. 2, U.S. military forces in U.S. Southern Command's area of responsibility conducted a kinetic strike in the Caribbean Sea against positively identified members of the Tren de Aragua narco-terrorism organization, resulting in 11 terrorists killed.

During a media appearance the next day, Hegseth issued a stern warning to criminal drug traffickers.

"It's a new day. It's a different day, and … this is an activity the United States is not going to tolerate in our hemisphere," Hegseth said during the appearance.

He also pushed back on an accusation made by a member of the Venezuelan government - the country in which Tren de Aragua is based - that the video of the military strike was artificial intelligence-generated.

"I can tell you that was definitely not artificial intelligence; I watched it live," Hegseth said, adding that the military knew exactly who was in the targeted vessel, what they were doing and who they represented.

"As the president said, let this serve as notice to anybody thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America," Wilson said of the Southcom strike.

Also this week, the department held a listening session to hear feedback from men and women who are pursuing reinstatement into the military following being dismissed for noncompliance with the now-defunct COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

"The department is prioritizing reinstatement cases and will continue to seek feedback and develop solutions to bring our warfighters back into the service as soon as possible," Wilson said.