Hegseth to chair Pentagon’s new Homeland Defense advisory board

After overseeing a purge of Pentagon advisory committees last year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is adding a new one to the list, focused on homeland security and defense.

Announced in the Federal Register Sept. 11, the Homeland Defense Board aims to fill a gap Hegseth sees in providing military guidance to homeland security missions.

“The specific, integrated advice required by the SecWar regarding the military’s mission of defense of the Homeland and Homeland security cooperation is not available from any other Federal advisory committee, government agency, or alternative source,” establishing documents state.

“Department of war” and “secretary of war” are the Trump administration’s preferred monikers for the Defense Department and its head. Legislation to legally change the agency name is pending in Congress.

“While other agencies and departments operate within specific mission or geographic areas, their advisory mechanisms are statutorily constrained to their respective non-military domains,” the panel’s establishing documents add. “Relying solely on internal DoW staff or contracted studies is also insufficient, as it fails to provide the consensus-based, independent, and external peer review required at the highest levels of strategic decision-making.”

The board is to consist of up to 20 members, including the secretary of defense, who will serve as chair; the assistant secretary of defense for Homeland Defense and Americas Security Affairs as vice chair; and the deputy assistant secretaries of defense for Homeland Defense and Defense Continuity and Mission Assurance.

Also on the board will be one civilian and one field- or mid-grade officer from each military branch and “such other members as the SecWar or the Deputy Secretary of War may appoint or designate,” establishing documents state.

Asked for comment, an official said the Pentagon had “nothing to provide” about the new board’s creation.

The advisory board is the first of its kind for the Pentagon focused on homeland security, and the announcement argues that no other agency’s board can fill the need that defense leaders now see. The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Advisory Council cannot fill the role because it focuses on civilian law enforcement and “lacks the mandate to advise on Title 10 or Title 32 [domestic troop] deployments” and military-specific crises, it states.

It also finds the Department of State’s International Security Advisory Board, with its focus on diplomacy and arms control, “underequipped” to deliver strategies for military campaign plans in the Americas.

“Over the past 10 years, rather than lessening, the threat from peer, near-peer, and rogue-state adversaries, in addition to non-state actors and hostile asymmetric activities, has become more intense and complex,” justifying documents continue. “The DoW provides for the common defense of American citizens and the Homeland by deploying and maintaining the premier warfighting force across the globe to provide a multi-domain, layered defense … In an era where peer and near-peer adversaries are actively projecting economic, cyber, and military power into the Western Hemisphere, the HDB will provide critical, independent assessments of the DoW’s hemispheric defensive posture and domestic security preparedness.”

The large-scale deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities to support law enforcement; the ongoing deployment of troops to the southern border; and the aggressive move into drug interdiction missions traditionally executed by the U.S. Coast Guard have all blurred the lines between the mission sets of the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. The establishing memo suggests the new board will create a bridge between the two that didn’t previously exist.

“The [Homeland Defense Board] will … provide the SecWar advice and recommendations necessary for strategic oversight for multi-theater security cooperation and multi-domain actions, validating that DoW resource investments and allocations are successfully countering foreign influence, disrupting transnational criminal networks, and building robust partner-nation military capabilities,” it states.

“Finally, the HDB’s advice and recommendations will serve an essential function by bridging the gap between the military and domestic Homeland security agencies to secure the defense critical infrastructure, vital transport networks and logistics nodes and the defense industrial base. Without this advisory body, the DoW risks strategic blind spots in its primary mission to protect the Homeland.”

According to the General Services Administration, there are now roughly 40 federal advisory committees serving the Pentagon. In March 2025, shortly after taking office, Hegseth dismissed all members of existing boards to conduct a “zero-based review” of their necessity and contribution to “ warrior ethos .” Among boards terminated at the review’s conclusion were the 75-year-old Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services and the Defense Advisory Committee for the Prevention of Sexual Misconduct.

继去年对五角大楼顾问委员会进行大刀阔斧的改革之后，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯又在名单上增加了一个新的委员会，专注于国土安全和国防。

9 月 11 日在《联邦公报》上宣布成立的国土防御委员会旨在填补赫格塞斯认为在为国土安全任务提供军事指导方面存在的空白。

“国土安全部部长需要就军队保卫国土和国土安全合作任务提供的具体、综合建议，而其他任何联邦咨询委员会、政府机构或替代来源都无法提供这些建议，”成立文件指出。

“战争部”和“战争部长”是特朗普政府对国防部及其部长的首选称呼。目前，国会正在审议一项旨在合法更改该机构名称的法案。

“虽然其他机构和部门在特定的任务或地理区域内运作，但它们的咨询机制在法律上被限制在其各自的非军事领域内，”该小组的成立文件补充道。“仅仅依靠国防部内部人员或外包研究也是不够的，因为它无法提供最高战略决策层所需的基于共识、独立和外部的同行评审。”

委员会由至多 20 名成员组成，包括国防部长（担任主席）、负责国土防御和美洲安全事务的助理国防部长（担任副主席）以及负责国土防御和国防连续性和任务保障的副助理国防部长。

根据成立文件，董事会还将包括一名文职人员和来自每个军种的一名野战或中级军官，以及“战争部长或副战争部长可以任命或指定的其他成员”。

当被问及此事时，一位官员表示，五角大楼对新委员会的成立“无可奉告”。

该咨询委员会是五角大楼首个专注于国土安全的此类机构，公告指出，其他任何机构的委员会都无法满足国防领导人目前所面临的需求。公告称，国土安全部的国土安全咨询委员会无法胜任这项工作，因为它侧重于民事执法，并且“缺乏就第10条或第32条（国内部队）部署”以及军事危机提供咨询的授权。

报告还指出，国务院国际安全顾问委员会专注于外交和军备控制，因此“能力不足”，无法为美洲的军事行动计划提供战略。

“过去十年，来自势均力敌、准势均力敌和流氓国家的威胁，以及非国家行为体和敌对的非对称活动，非但没有减弱，反而变得更加严峻和复杂，”相关论证文件继续指出。“《战时安全法》旨在通过在全球范围内部署和维持一支顶尖作战力量，提供多域、多层次的防御，从而保障美国公民和国土的共同安全……在势均力敌和准势均力敌的对手积极向西半球投射经济、网络和军事力量的时代，西半球防御局将对《战时安全法》的半球防御态势和国内安全准备情况进行关键的独立评估。”

大规模向美国城市部署国民警卫队以支援执法；持续向南部边境部署部队；以及积极参与以往由美国海岸警卫队执行的缉毒任务，所有这些都模糊了国防部和国土安全部之间的职责界限。成立备忘录表明，新委员会将搭建起此前两者之间并不存在的桥梁。

“国土防御委员会将……提供必要的战时安全建议和意见，以进行多战区安全合作和多领域行动的战略监督，验证战时资源投资和分配是否成功应对外国影响、破坏跨国犯罪网络以及建立强大的伙伴国家军事能力，”声明中写道。

最后，国防发展局的建议和意见将发挥至关重要的作用，它能够弥合军方和国内国土安全机构之间的差距，从而保障国防关键基础设施、重要交通网络和物流节点以及国防工业基地的安全。如果没有这个咨询机构，国防部在保护国土这一首要任务中可能会出现战略盲点。

据美国总务管理局称，目前大约有40个联邦咨询委员会为五角大楼提供服务。2025年3月，赫格塞斯上任不久，便解散了所有现有委员会的成员，以对其必要性及其对“战士精神”的贡献进行“零基审查”。审查结束后被解散的委员会包括已有75年历史的国防部妇女服务咨询委员会和国防部预防性行为不端咨询委员会。