With a jump in foreign attempts to infiltrate and compromise American bases, even domestically, it was time to take the threat seriously.
How many stories have we heard about foreigners ‘accidentally’ wandering into secure zones in bases, buying land suspiciously close to sensitive installations, or even cases like the Chinese national busted over a bio lab in a residential area just outside of an American base?
Disrupting the base with an illness, or sabotaging critical infrastructure like the power grid would be a dangerously potent way of crippling Uncle Sam’s ability to respond to any serious international threat to our own interests, or our allies.
That’s even more important in a situation where final outcomes hinge on decisions and actions taken in moments, not days. (A hypothetical invasion of Taiwan, for example.)
Under Hegseth, and his prioritizing of making America’s military an effective fighting force rather than a laboratory of social experimentation, Uncle Sam is taking foreign threats against our infrastructure more seriously.
This includes maximizing the American Military’s self-sufficiency, so that supply line crunches and asymmetrical attacks on civilian infrastructure cannot be leveraged to cripple US capabilities and bases.
.@SECWAR “Today—at my direction—we are launching FORTRESS America—a national insurance policy for the American homeland.
FORTRESS stands for: Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability.
And here is what FORTRESS calls for:
Every major… pic.twitter.com/pcIJA6Knk8
— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) September 30, 2026
As you read the memo in which Hegseth announced the Fortress America initiative, think back for a moment to the Biden-era response to a CCP spy balloon drifting over US bases.
Recall how it was collecting data on our resources in real time while American ‘experts’ gave us every excuse in the book for why we could not — MUST not — interfere with it until it had reached the Atlantic and had completed its mission.
Here’s the memo:
SUBJECT: Establishment of FORTRESS America as a Department of War Program for the Defense of the American Homeland
Effective immediately, I establish FORTRESS America as a program of the Department of War. FORTRESS America will serve as the nation’s insurance policy- a comprehensive, Future Year Defense Program-aligned program that reinforces the United States military’s unmatched ability to fight and win under any conditions by securing sustained access to the critical capabilities, infrastructure, and resources on which it depends. The program aligns basing and infrastructure projects to ensure they are collectively advancing toward greater independence. It puts America fust, and it does what should have been done long ago.
FORTRESS America strengthens the Nation’s military capacity from the inside out, organized around five pillars: energy independence; supply-chain and defense-industrial base resilience; a strategic defense reserve; installation hardening and cyber resilience; and resilience in space and spectrum. Together these pillars guarantee assured access to the materials, energy, industrial capacity, and secure infrastructure on which American military power depends. Through these pillars, we will synchronize efforts across every installation. This is not a retreat. It is the foundation from which American strength is projected- a homeland that cannot be starved out, shut down, or cut off.
The Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment is directed to stand up the FORTRESS America Program Office within thirty (30) days of the date of this memorandum. The Program Office shall report directly to the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment who will appoint a member of the Senior Executive Service to lead the day-to-day operations, assisted by a two-star Military Advisor, and shall begin as a lean core cell that scales to full operating capability within months – delivering results in weeks, not years.
FORTRESS America is a priority and synchronized program. All Military Departments, Defense Agencies, and Field Activities shall support its execution without reservation. We will put America first, we will defend the American homeland, and we will build a permanent structure equal to the moment. We begin today.
