War Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed details Tuesday of a covert visit to American troops engaged in Operation Epic Fury, describing a force operating at an intensified pace and calling for continued support from U.S. leadership, as reported by Fox News.

Hegseth said the visit provided a direct look at how service members are operating across multiple environments, including ground units, aviation operations, and technical command centers.

He emphasized that troops are moving at what he described as “wartime speed” and are focused on accelerating mission completion.

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“To a man and to a woman on the ground, in the air, on the flight line, and in the TOC [technical operations center] I heard, ‘We want everything faster, higher up-tempo, wartime, speed,’” Hegseth said.

According to Hegseth, the pace of operations stood out during the visit, but he said the determination of the troops made a lasting impression. He described repeated expressions of support for leadership from those serving in the field.

“‘Please thank the president from us’: I heard that time and time again,” Hegseth said.

“I asked each young American, ‘What do you need?’ And nobody said better equipment. Nobody said more comfortable living conditions. Nobody said, send me home.”

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Hegseth acknowledged that long-term needs remain part of the broader discussion, but said the immediate focus expressed by service members was centered on completing their mission.

“Well, of course, eventually we want all those things; they do too,” Hegseth acknowledged.

“But what those Americans said to me, young and old, officer and NCO, male and female, Black and white, was: ‘Let’s finish the mission. Get us even more bombs. Bigger bombs, more targets. Let us finish this.'”

The War Secretary said the feedback reflected a consistent message across ranks and roles, describing a unified push toward maintaining momentum in ongoing operations.

Also speaking at the Pentagon briefing was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, who highlighted the role of workers supporting military readiness beyond the battlefield.

“Today, I want to recognize a group of Americans who live at the beginning of our nation’s combat power, the Americans who actually make our weapons both inside our defense industrial base, but even more broadly inside our national industrial base,” Caine said.

Caine said those workers are critical to sustaining military operations, noting their contribution across a range of sectors tied to defense production.

“In every military option, we could not and cannot do our jobs without the men and women across our country who show up every day around the clock to a factory floor, a workshop, a laboratory, who build the weapons and capabilities we need to project American combat power at the time and place of our choosing,” he said.

Hegseth’s remarks marked the first public details of the visit, which was conducted without prior announcement. He did not provide specific locations tied to Operation Epic Fury, citing operational considerations.

The Pentagon briefing underscored the coordination between deployed forces and the broader defense infrastructure supporting them, as officials described an effort focused on sustaining operational tempo and meeting battlefield demands.

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