Inside Defense Secretary Hegseth’s Visit to Fort Bragg

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina—On Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s first trip to Fort Bragg since restoring the base’s name, he unveiled a plan in step with his core mission of prioritizing lethality and the warrior ethos in the military. 

Hegseth began Thursday at the 82nd Airborne Division’s All-American Week review ceremony. 

After landing in Fayetteville, Hegseth motorcaded to Pike Field, where he received a warm welcome from ceremony attendees, which included veterans, families of the troops, and locals.

Hegseth announced that for the first time in 25 years, the military is increasing “jump pay,” meaning paratroopers and others who jump out of planes will be rewarded for the sacrifice, summoning loud cheers from the crowd. 

“Not only are we increasing jump pay, but for the first time, jumpmasters, who have never been compensated additionally for that additional duty, are going to receive an additional $150 a month in incentive pay,” Hegseth said. “So, here’s to our jump—our paratroopers, our jumpmasters, who do the difficult things in difficult places that most Americans can never imagine.” 

As the Army troops stood in formation on the field in front of Hegseth, he said that his own Army background prepared him to look out for their interests as secretary of defense. 

Critics say an Army major like him shouldn’t be secretary of defense, but that the president should choose someone who will think big picture, according to Hegseth. 

People say, “We can’t have a guy who thinks like the troops, to which I say ‘Hell, yeah, we can have a guy that thinks like the troops,’” he said to cheers.

“You see, my job is to think strategically, operationally, but also understand the tactical,” he continued. “I have stood, not that long ago, in a formation like this one, and if you didn’t hear it, please rest. Double rest, if that’s a command from the secretary of defense.” 

After the speech, which Hegseth said he cut short to spare the troops time in formation under the beating North Carolina sun, more than 15,000 service members participated in pass and review, a military tradition in which troops march past a reviewing officer in a formal parade. 

As Hegseth made his exit to the motorcade after the ceremony, a number of veterans jumped to shake his hand and take a photo with him, one even following him up to his car. 

Army Sgt. Maj. Michael Weimer, who holds the Army’s highest rank for enlistees, later told The Daily Signal that the bonus was both an incentive and an honor for jumping out of planes. 

“It’s also a skill, like you have an obligation as a jumpmaster to stay current, to be really good with that level of responsibility we have,” Weimer, a jumpmaster himself, said. “We have a saying that’s an extra rock in your rucksack, and that takes time and dedication. And we’re also going to hold you accountable to be really good as a jumpmaster.”

“It incentivizes the extra responsibility … but it’s also going to hold you accountable to being able to do the job,” he added. 

Hegseth—along with the press pool—ate lunch in the Army mess hall with the troops. Service members told The Daily Signal that while what happens in Washington doesn’t trickle down to them much, Hegseth’s message of restoring the warrior ethos is an encouragement to troops motivated by patriotism and excellence. 

Hegseth then reviewed Fort Bragg’s Medical Training Center, while the press took a tour of the brand new Human Performance Force Generation facility, where the Army trains. 

The Daily Signal even got to try out some of the equipment that tests weight distribution when jumping. 

The press pool attended a change of responsibility and command ceremony before our last stop, a tour of Fort Bragg headquarters. 

On the wall hangs a colorized photo of Roland Bragg, an army paratrooper during World War II and the newest namesake of the military base

In June 2023, the Biden administration renamed Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty in accordance with a directive requiring the removal of names recognizing Confederate leaders.

Hegseth changed the name back to Fort Bragg, but now Bragg is a person soldiers can look up to, Weimer told reporters. 

“The story of Roland Bragg, who trained here as a private and was a paratrooper in 17th Airborne and then saved five other soldiers … soldiers can relate to that,” he said.

“He came from nowhere, small town Maine, came down here, became a very humble person, did his job and saved people, and a lot of soldiers can get behind examples like that,” Weimer continued. “That’s the real power of picking somebody like that to be an example.” 

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