This Week in DOW: Arsenal of Freedom Tour Heads to New England, AI Integration, Protecting U.S. Farmland, Saving Recruits Cash

View Online This Week in DOW: Arsenal of Freedom Tour Heads to New England, AI Integration, Protecting U.S. Farmland, Saving Recruits Cash Feb. 13, 2026 |  By Matthew Olay This week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth continued the War Department's Arsenal of Freedom tour by heading to a couple of New England states, Feb. 9, to visit defense industrial base facilities and administer the oath of enlistment to eager recruits.   Hegseth's first stop was to swear in a group of future active-duty and National Guard service members while visiting the Seabee Museum and Memorial Park in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.  "You are the real secret weapon of the United States of America; no other country produces young men and women like these," Hegseth told the recruits.  "Thank you for joining the most ferocious, disciplined fighting force the world has ever seen. It's a blessing to be with you this morning."   Hegseth was next off to the state of Maine, where he visited a variety of companies that contribute to the defense industrial base. "At General Dynamics Electric Boat, Anduril and Bath Iron Works, the secretary delivered remarks to the workforce, to encourage and revitalize the patriots that work shoulder to shoulder alongside our warfighters," Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson explained today during the department's Weekly Sitrep video.   She added that without such hardworking men and women, the armed forces would not have the advantage over adversaries.  Also on Feb. 9, the War Department announced plans to integrate ChatGPT into its AI platform through a partnership with OpenAI.   "This partnership will make OpenAI's advanced large language models readily available to all of the department's personnel," Wilson said.  AI was first rolled out to DOW personnel in December, and the department strongly encourages integrating AI into daily workflows.  On Feb. 11, defense chiefs and senior military representatives from 34 nations met in Washington for the inaugural Western Hemisphere Chiefs of Defense Conference.   Convened by Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and held in downtown Washington, the daylong conference focused on regional security cooperation against narco-terrorism and other criminal enterprises throughout the hemisphere, while also analyzing common security priorities between allies and partner nations. While delivering prepared remarks at the meeting's outset, Hegseth said the U.S. — like all countries represented at the conference — desires a hemisphere of peace, which is why they must work together to achieve and preserve it.   "We, like you, want — and will — achieve a permanent peace in this hemisphere. So, let's work together our militaries: exercising, training, operations, , access, basing, overflight, you name it — let's work together," Hegseth told the gathered leaders.    "To achieve these goals, we have to stand together; there's no other way to do it," he added.    Also on Feb. 11, Hegseth signed a memorandum of understanding with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, cementing the relationship between the two agencies under the National Farm Security Action Plan, and explaining how they will collaborate when agriculture and national defense intersect.   "We're going to promote agricultural and economic prosperity, defend the foundations of agriculture and food ... and strengthen domestic and agricultural productivity," Hegseth said. He added that together, DOW and the Agriculture Department are elevating the protection of U.S. agriculture into America's national security framework by ensuring systems remain protected against major disasters, emergencies and potential terror attacks, with the full support of the national security enterprise.  "Under the leadership of President Trump and collaboration with Secretary Rollins, we're ensuring that American agriculture remains resilient, productive and a cornerstone of our nation's strength," Wilson said.  Also this week, the War Department announced a new partnership with the Transportation Security Administration to streamline the process and provide expedited security screening for recruits passing through TSA checkpoints on their way to basic training.   Wilson explained that under the new process, which began Feb. 1, recruits headed to basic training who don't possess a REAL ID can get through airport security without paying a fee.  "Putting our recruits first is a priority. These young men and women have volunteered to serve our nation. When they are shipping out to basic training, we want them focused on the fight, not worried about what type of ID they have or whether they will need to pay a fee to make it there," Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony J. Tata recently said of the DOW-TSA partnership.   "TSA is honored to be a part of the journeys young men and women take to reach initial military training and begin their service in America's armed forces. … We are committed to ensuring recruits can stay focused on what lies at the end of their travels, serving America, instead of worrying about how they'll get there," explained Mike Turner, TSA's assistant administrator for domestic aviation operations.  Lastly, Hegseth and Trump traveled to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, today to show their support for our nation's warfighters.

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