[Video] Secretary Hegseth Appoints Medal of Honor Recipient Dakota Meyer as Senior Advisor for Barracks Task Force
WASHINGTON — Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on October 19 appointed Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer to serve as his Senior Advisor for the Barracks Task Force. Meyer will represent the Secretary's office at military installations across the country, engaging directly with service members, identifying what is broken in the barracks and pushing to make sure the department fixes them, the Department of War said. Troops "deserve nothing less," Hegseth said in announcing the appointment.
The Barracks Task Force was created by an October 2025 memorandum to build a department-wide barracks investment plan. An August 2026 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) put the Pentagon's facility maintenance backlog at about $285 billion. The announcement did not specify a budget, staff or timeline attached to the new advisory role.
Meyer received the Medal of Honor in 2011 for his actions during a 2009 Taliban ambush in Afghanistan's Kunar Province, becoming the first living Marine recipient since the Vietnam War. He left active service in 2010 and re-enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in 2025. In July 2026, the Pentagon said he had joined Hegseth's staff as a special assistant, serving as a special government employee while remaining a reservist.
(GSM, based on the U.S. Department of War release)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：战争部长 Pete Hegseth（左）与 Dakota Meyer。图片来源：战争部（Department of War）官方发布。Photo: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (left) with Dakota Meyer. Source: U.S. Department of War.
