WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - During his visit to the Boeing Company in St.Louis Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called on its workers to get up to speed and operate on a wartime footing.
Though Hegseth said he was certainly visiting Boeing's workers to thank them for their hard work, he also made clear during a speech that focused heavily on speed and competition within the nation's DIB that it's essential those who supply the nation's war-fighters get up to speed and operate on a wartime footing.
'Boeing, like everybody else, needs to compete; and that means tough truths to your leaders, to (the Defense Department) leaders, and to all defense firms,' Hegseth told the Boeing audience.
Hegseth's visit was part of his Arsenal of Freedom tour.
The visit to St. Louis - which is often referred to as 'Fighterland, U.S.A.' in aviation circles, due to the high number of military aircraft produced in the area - came on the same day that Boeing announced it would be relocating its Defense, Space and Security division back to the Midwest city from Arlington, Virginia.
During remarks to a crowd of roughly 500 employees in Boeing's Building 75, Hegseth said he viewed the timing of the tour's visit as 'perfect,' and then pointed out that some 2,500 veterans are included among the facility's workforce of 18,000.
The nationwide Arsenal of Freedom tour, which Hegseth launched last month, shows the Defense Department's support for the defense industrial base by delivering a call to action to revitalize the United States' manufacturing might and re-energize the nation's workforce.
Hegseth referenced the 'Prioritizing the Warfighter in Defense Contracting' executive order signed by President Donald Trump on January 7.
The EO prioritizes production speed and on-time delivery over investor returns in federal procurement, while also allowing the Secretary of Defense to penalize under-performing contractors by prohibiting stock buybacks and dividends, as well as linking executive pay to performance.
Hegseth added that the companies the Pentagon invests in must put the war-fighters and the workers who contribute to the U.S. Defense Industrial Base first.
When later asked during a brief meeting with the media how confident he was that corporate leaders within the DIB would comply with all that was being asked of them under the executive order, Hegseth said he was confident DIB leadership would comply.
Hegseth then illustrated the direct contributions that the Boeing workforce is making to reestablishing deterrence by mentioning the Boeing EA-18 Growler, a specialized, carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft developed for the U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Air Force.
Hegseth noted that the EA-18 played an important part in contributing to the success of Operation Absolute Resolve - the U.S. military's January 3 mission that led to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
The Growler is produced by the workers in Boeing's St. Louis division.
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