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Pentagon acquisition chief names his deputy nominee interim head of FORTRESS America office
Michael Duffey designated Matt O'Malley and told eight senior officials to name liaisons, DefenseScoop reported. The homeland program's office reports directly to Duffey and starts as a lean core cell.
The Department of War's FORTRESS America program office has an interim director. Michael Duffey, the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment, designated Matt O'Malley in an Oct. 6 directive, DefenseScoop reported.3 Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's Sept. 30 memo creating the program has the office report directly to Duffey's post.1–2 The department calls FORTRESS America its "national insurance policy for the American homeland."2 The memo organizes it around five pillars: energy independence, supply chains, a strategic defense reserve, installation hardening, and space and spectrum.1
Duffey designated Richard "Matt" O'Malley as Interim Director of the FORTRESS America Program Office
DefenseScoop reported, quoting Duffey's implementation directive dated Oct. 6
the program office will concentrate on selective implementation efforts across the five pillars set out in Hegseth's prior directive
DefenseScoop reported that President Trump nominated O'Malley earlier this year as deputy under secretary for acquisition and sustainment and that the Senate has not confirmed him.
Sources: Secretary of War memo, Sept. 30, 2026; reported by DefenseScoop, Oct. 7, 2026, quoting Duffey's Oct. 6 directive. As of Oct. 8, 2026.
For now, the office is built to coordinate. The memo calls for "a lean core cell" that reaches full operating capability "within months."1 Duffey's directive made O'Malley "the principal integrator among all stakeholders," DefenseScoop reported, and gave eight senior officials until Oct. 7 to name liaisons. The comptroller and the assistant secretary for industrial base policy were among them.3 The memo's only resourcing reference calls the program "Future Year Defense Program-aligned," tying it to the department's five-year spending plan.1, 6 Neither the memo nor DefenseScoop's account names a budget or acquisition authority for the office.1, 3
President Trump nominated O'Malley earlier this year as Duffey's deputy, and the Senate has not confirmed him, DefenseScoop reported. As interim director, he will oversee strategic milestone tracking, with a two-star military adviser to assist him.3 He told senators in July that he became senior adviser to the acquisition under secretary in March, after supporting Hegseth's Arsenal of Freedom tour as a special assistant.2, 4–5
The founding memo gives Duffey until Friday, Oct. 30, to stand up the office.1, 3 DefenseScoop reported that the office will concentrate on "selective implementation efforts" across all five pillars, and the implementation plan now being developed is the document that could show what those efforts are.3
Sources (6)
- Secretary of War memo: Establishment of FORTRESS America as a Department of War Program for the Defense of the American Homeland (Sept. 30, 2026) media.defense.gov
- Department of War: Secretary Hegseth Announces Six Major Initiatives at Quantico Speech www.war.gov
- DefenseScoop: Pentagon memo outlines plan to operationalize new 'FORTRESS America' program office (Oct. 7, 2026) defensescoop.com
- Senate Armed Services Committee: nomination hearing, including Richard M. O'Malley (July 14, 2026) www.armed-services.senate.gov
- Richard M. O'Malley: opening statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee www.armed-services.senate.gov
- Defense Acquisition University glossary: Future Years Defense Program www.dau.edu