The future of military installations will now be guided, at least in part, by FORTRESS America.
According to a memo from Pete Hegseth, the program "will serve as the nation’s insurance policy." The memo goes on to say the program has five parts - Energy independence, supply-chain and defense-industrial base resilience, a strategic defense reserve, installation hardening and cyber resilience, and resilience in the space and spectrum.
So, what does all that mean?
Watch: 'What a testament:' Hegseth meets sailors, families as USS Gerald R. Ford CSG returns to Norfolk
In an interview with a national news outlet, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson said bases can’t rely on civilian infrastructure. That means things like water and electricity.
A post from him on X says “FORTRESS is strategic deterrence in action, ensuring our defenses are hardened, proactive, and ready.”
NORFOLK, Va. — FORTRESS is strategic deterrence in action, ensuring our defenses are hardened, proactive, and ready. I created FORTRESS America because we can no longer rely on two oceans to protect us. That outdated assumption no longer reflects the threats we face. President Trump and Secretary Hegseth understand this and have already paved the way with Golden Dome and a renewed focus on the Western Hemisphere, including Greenland and Panama. All of it reflects a fundamental shift in how we defend America. War has evolved, the threats have evolved, and our defenses must evolve with them. https://t.co/R2oabIsb8H
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) October 25, 2026
At a hearing in Washington D.C. in May, Virginia Congressman Rob Wittman, who represents part of Hampton Roads, touched on the need for this while talking powering data centers.
“There’s a need for the military to have organic capabilities on the base to make sure we’re not at peril with the larger grid if somebody tries to take it out and, then, making sure we have our own organic capabilities for the data that we need for that," Wittman said.
Watch: May 14 House Armed Services Committee hearing
One option being considered was small nuclear reactors on bases. At the hearing, Acting Secretary of the Navy, Hun Cao, pointed out the reactors could do more than just generate power, though.
“The energy that’s produced from these, we ca also use it as a four-stage distiller making water fresh, potable water," Cao explained.
The Navy’s Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Daryl Caudle, urged Congress to act quickly to help make reactors a reality.
Watch: Surry power plant marks 50 years of producing nuclear energy
“We need to get a pilot established, a target date, and get one going," said Caudle.
Hegseth’s memo says FORTRESS America will be fully operational “within months — delivering results in weeks, not years.”
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