Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced plans to build a modern, self-sustaining military fortress, saying the site will be selected through a merit-based competition among governors pitching their states as potential locations.The megaproject, dubbed the "Next Great American Base," was unveiled during an address at Marine Corps Base Quantico as part of Hegseth’s six strategies to modernize the military.The initiative rejects what Hegseth described as the legacy approach to spend heavily on advanced weapons systems while service members live on aging bases with outdated barracks."For too long, our military has been bogged down by the same old tired Washington playbook: spending trillions on exquisite weapons systems, while our troops live in aging bases, outdated barracks, and with inadequate infrastructure.That era is over," Hegseth said.EXCLUSIVE: HEGSETH TO DOUBLE CUTS TO GENERALS, ADMIRALS IN MAJOR PENTAGON SHAKEUPFILE — Hegseth said the project will replace aging military infrastructure with a modern base built from the ground up for troops and their families.
(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)"To back up our warfighters, when we bring the troops home, we won’t just reshuffle troops onto legacy posts.We are going to build them beautiful new bases from the ground up," he added.The ambitious undertaking will feature a brand-new military installation spanning hundreds of thousands of acres and housing up to 25,000 service members."We are talking hundreds of thousands of acres with organic power generation, modern air defenses, and cutting edge technology — a fortress," he said.The installation is expected to provide first-class living conditions, high-end training grounds and essential services such as health care and child care, while operating entirely off the commercial grid with independent power sources.Hegseth added that the base will support President Donald Trump’s executive order on "Beautiful Civic Architecture," which calls for federal pu...