Hegseth Unveils ‘Wartime Footing’ for Military AI in Strategy Document

War Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled the AI strategy for the War Department memo earlier this month, highlighting an “AI-first warfighting force.”

“This transformation is a race — fueled by the accelerating pace of commercial AI innovation coming out of America’s private sector. The United States military must build on its lead over our adversaries in integrating this technology, established during President Trump’s first term, to make our warfighters more lethal and efficient,” the memo reads.

Signed on January 12, the memo frames AI as the central nervous system of modern American defense.

“We will unleash experimentation, eliminate bureaucratic barriers, focus our investments and demonstrate the execution approach needed to ensure we lead in military AI,” Hegseth said in a statement about the memo’s release. “We will become an ‘AI-first’ warfighting force across all domains.”

Projects to Accelerate AI

The memo outlines seven pace-setting projects (PSPs) designed to deliver results across three domains: warfighting, intelligence and enterprise operations. These projects are designed to bypass traditional bureaucratic cycles, serving as the starting point for the military’s transition to an AI-first force.

“We’re pulling in the best talent, the most cutting‑edge technology, and embedding the top frontier AI models into the workforce — all at a rapid wartime pace,” Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael said about the AI strategy memo.

A Wartime AI Footing

The memo also directs the Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO) to operate as a “wartime CDAO” to bring scale AI across DOW.

“I expect our CDAO to act as a wartime CDAO and work with the chief information officer to fully leverage statutory and delegated authorities to accelerate AI capability delivery, including cross-domain data access and rapid [authority to operate] reciprocity on behalf of pace-pushing leaders across the department,” Hegseth wrote in the memo.

The memo mandates that the latest frontier AI models must be deployed to warfighters within 30 days of their public release.

“The Department of War has historically not deployed AI to its full potential,” Michael said earlier this month. “It’s the time to get AI to the two million employees at the Department of War … and using the max capabilities that these companies that invested hundreds of billions of dollars in their AI models, bringing them to the Pentagon and to the warfighter.”

The memo is partially a response to the rapid military buildup in China. The document explicitly identifies the need to “leverage America’s core asymmetric advantages” to counter adversaries who do not operate under the same constraints. Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said last month that future conflict will be defined by data and the efficiency of AI and autonomy.

“Our AI tools [can] achieve decision superiority … AI is going to be the nonlinear tool that’s going to be able to enable us as a country to do that,” Paparo said at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California.

Removing Barriers to Implementation

The memo emphasizes speed of AI adoption throughout the DOW and the military services. The PSPs “demonstrate the accelerated pace of execution, focus and ethos we need to stay ahead,” the memo states and directs CDAO to use special authorities to buy and implement AI for DOW.

“Military AI is going to be a race for the foreseeable future, and therefore speed wins,” the memo states. “We must weaponize learning speed, and measure and manage cycle time and adoption rates as decisive variables in the AI era.”

The strategy directs the CDAO to bypass the “vestiges of legacy IT” and “bureaucratic blockers” that have historically slowed data sharing and software certification. Central to this effort is the creation of a Barrier Removal Board, which will meet monthly with the authority to waive any non-statutory requirement that slows AI delivery.

“Speed defines victory in the AI era, and the War Department will match the velocity of America’s AI industry,” said Michael.

GenAI.mil as a Multiplier

Last month, DOW launched GenAI.mil, a custom-built platform designed to provide cutting-edge generative AI models to the department’s 3 million personnel. The move is one of the memo’s PSPs.

“We are pushing all of our chips in on artificial intelligence as a fighting force. The department is tapping into America’s commercial genius, and we’re embedding generative AI into our daily battle rhythm,” Hegseth remarked. “AI tools present boundless opportunities to increase efficiency, and we are thrilled to witness AI’s future positive impact across the War Department.”

Jake Glassman, deputy assistant secretary of war for Science and Technology Foundations, said during the GovCIO Media & Research AI Summit on Jan. 9 that GenAI.mil has been “game-changing” for the department. Glassman said the platform has already logged over 800,000 unique users since its launch in December, and it is an example of the ways DOW is using the available tools from industry.

“We’re leveraging commercial innovation, and rapidly bringing that in,” Glassman said. “It’s really showing just how mature the department is and how serious we’re really getting about working with commercial technologies.”

AI as Part of the New Way DOW Operates

The AI strategy comes amid Hegseth’s push to overhaul how the Pentagon acquires and integrates technology.

“Mission command governs this ecosystem: we set intent, set priorities, remove blockers and hold leaders accountable for measurable outcomes,” Hegseth wrote in a concurrent memo on transforming the DOW’s acquisition system and structure. “Every organization in this ecosystem will strive to deliver warfighting advantage faster than our adversaries can adapt.”

“Our objective is simple: transform the entire acquisition system to operate on a wartime footing,” Hegseth wrote. “We must wage an all‑out campaign to streamline the Pentagon’s process, to unshackle our people from unproductive work and to shift our resources from the bureaucracy to the battlefield.

Glassman said that the pace of AI change at the Pentagon makes predictions difficult, but that DOW’s AI posture is strong.

“Where this is going is mind boggling. I’d like to think that I was at the leading edge of AI in the department … I would never have thought we’d be where we are today, even six months ago. Where will we be six months from now?” he said. “This has impacted the department and impacted our mission. We can win. I never been more confident about winning technology areas than I am now.”