LOS ANGELES, California — War Secretary Pete Hegseth joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for an early-morning workout last week while on his “Arsenal of Freedom” tour.

Breitbart News was granted exclusive access to the Southern California leg of Hegseth’s tour on Thursday and Friday, featuring trips to multiple aerospace and weapons technology manufacturers, a swearing-in ceremony for Army soldiers and National Guardsmen, and an exercise session in near-freezing weather:

The Pentagon chief chatted with members of UCLA’s ROTC program as he did a workout circuit with them, featuring stair runs, pushups, deadlifts, and more:

After the physical training (PT), Hegseth delivered an inspiring speech and took a photo with the cadets.

“There is no better way to start a military day than PT bright and early. There’s a reason why I do this,” he said. “First of all, I get PT in with great Americans everywhere we go. Second of all, I want to reinforce from the very top that the basics matter — being prepared, being fit.”

“You’re all going to be young officers — setting the example, leading from the front,” he continued. “It starts with what you do in the morning and what you do throughout the day. If you don’t do PT — if you don’t do hard PT — your formation won’t do hard PT, which affects the readiness of everything that you do.”

Emphasizing physical fitness standards, the war secretary went on to joke about how his tradition of doing PT around the country “turned into ‘Smoke the Secretary’ everywhere.”

“I don’t ask what the PT is going to be, I just show up. And it’s Navy Seals and Green Berets and cadets and Marines and just motivated Americans ready to go,” Hegseth added. “And you motivate us for the day, because this is going to be the best part of my day.”

After leaving UCLA, Hegseth went on tours of defense technology firm Castelion and aerospace manufacturer Rocket Lab, where he also delivered speeches to their engineers. The day before, he visited 3D-printing company Divergent Technologies.

Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.