Speaking to roughly 500 employees inside Boeing’s Building 75, Hegseth described the timing of the visit as “perfect.” He noted that about 2,500 veterans are among the facility’s 18,000 workers.
“I’m here on behalf of the Department of War to thank you; that’s what the Arsenal of Freedom tour is all about — to ensure that our warfighters never fight in a fair fight, and they can’t do that without you,” Hegseth told the crowd. The tour, launched just over a month ago, is intended to demonstrate support for the defense industrial base and call for revitalizing American manufacturing and re-energizing the workforce.
LIVE: @SecWar Pete Hegseth speaks during the nationwide Arsenal of Freedom tour at Boeing in St. Louis, Mo. https://t.co/0ecALkY0mq
— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) February 18, 2026
While thanking employees for their work, Hegseth stressed the need for speed and competition within the defense industrial base. “Boeing, like everybody else, needs to compete; and that means tough truths to your leaders, to [War Department] leaders, and to all defense firms,” he said.
He referenced President Donald J. Trump’s Jan. 7 executive order titled “Prioritizing the Warfighter in Defense Contracting.” The order prioritizes production speed and on-time delivery in federal procurement and allows the secretary of war to penalize underperforming contractors by restricting stock buybacks, dividends and executive compensation tied to performance.
“These themes are simple: no more excuses, no more barriers to entry for big guys or small guys, no more monopolies, no more egregious executive bonuses, no more stock buybacks, no more ridiculous CEO salaries [and] no more making lots of money while falling behind on product lines,” Hegseth said. He added that companies receiving War Department investments must put warfighters and defense industry workers first.
When asked by reporters about compliance with the executive order, Hegseth expressed confidence. “If you read [the EO] from January, we have extraordinary powers … And so, we’re really going company by company saying, ‘Hey, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,’ [and] a lot of them have taken the ball and ran with it, saying, ‘Hey, we want to work with you, we want to partner with you,’” he said.
Returning to the theme of workforce contributions, Hegseth highlighted the role of Boeing employees in building combat aircraft. “You’re the workers who pour their lives and careers into these planes; planes that fly … 1,900 miles per hour, ready to go to battle and then give our pilots safe passage home,” he said, adding, “You’re the ones that give them the advantage.”
He cited the Boeing EA-18 Growler, a carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft produced in Building 75 for the U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Air Force. Hegseth said the aircraft contributed to the success of Operation Absolute Resolve, the Jan. 3 mission that led to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, stating, “[The EA-18] protected our warfighters [and] it was built in America, built by Americans, built by you.”
After the Boeing visit, Hegseth stopped at the St. Louis Military Entrance Processing Station, where he administered the oath of enlistment to 32 future service members, including 24 active-duty recruits and eight Missouri National Guardsmen. Swearing in recruits across the country has been a regular part of the tour since it began on Jan. 5.
Before administering the oath, Hegseth emphasized the role of personnel in national defense. “Even the most exquisite submarine [or] the most exquisite fighter [jet] … none of those things are the decisive factor. The decisive factor [is] these Americans,” he said, describing the enlistees as “the real [top] 1%” of what the United States has to offer, and adding, “I’m honored to swear you into the greatest fighting force in human history, and it’s [the War Department’s] job to make sure you keep it that way.”
