Military Olympians honored at the Pentagon, against backdrop of Iran war

A radical of 10 American Olympians who service successful the U.S. subject were honored astatine the Pentagon connected April 17.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth, betwixt starring the efforts successful the warfare connected Iran, recovered clip to conscionable with the athletes for a ceremonial to grant their accomplishments successful the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. All 10 were members of the high-performance U.S. military-sponsored World Class Athlete Program (WCAP).

"It's not each time you get invited into Sec. War's office," U.S. bobsledder Frankie Del Duca told Fox News Digital. "We had a bully speech astir the Army."

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War Sec. Pete Hegseth code WCAP Olympians astatine the Pentagon. (Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Brann)

Del Duca was the Team USA Olympic emblem bearer successful Cortina backmost successful February. As an American of Italian descent, it held a peculiar taste value to him and his household that helium had the grant successful Italy.

Del Duca is besides a U.S. Army infantryman.

"I'm infantry," helium said. "There's antithetic assignments I tin instrumentality arsenic I summation experience. I americium grateful for the accidental to serve. I'm precise arrogant to service our country, and I emotion our state and America."

Hegseth himself was an Army infantry serviceman who served successful Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay.

But truthful acold Del Duca has lone ever done jock enactment for the military, enlisting successful 2019 and grooming arsenic a bobsledder astatine Lake Placid, New York. But arsenic a WCAP athlete, helium volition service successful a military-related relation arsenic well.

"We've had members of WCAP that person been successful the Army first... and past we person immoderate that possibly bash that after," Del Duca said, adding that helium falls into the "after" group.

"Where I whitethorn beryllium stationed next, and wherever I may, antithetic assignments, wherever I mightiness extremity up, I'm going to instrumentality those aforesaid lessons that I've learned and use them to that adjacent unit. So it's thing that I'm precise grateful for and arrogant of. And I anticipation that spreads passim our country. I anticipation it shows that we're unneurotic and that we're resilient, and that we're acceptable and we're ready."

Del Duca is simply a young begetter of 2 sons who are each little than 4 years old.

"It's made maine a amended father," Del Duca said of his acquisition successful the Army. "I person 2 sons, [ages] 1 and three, they support maine connected my toes."

Other branches of the subject are represented good successful the WCAP, particularly the Air Force.

Team USA skeleton jock Kelly Curtis, who was besides honored astatine the ceremony, is preparing for deployment close backmost to Italy aft competing astatine the Milan Cortina games.

War Sec. Pete Hegseth takes a photograph with 10 WCAP Olympians astatine the Pentagon (Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Brann)

"I'm going backmost to the 31st communications squadron astatine Aviano Air Base," Curtis told Fox News Digital. "I'm a cognition operations technician... it's fundamentally similar an accusation postulation cop."

Curtis says she has a lineage successful her family, connected her mother's side, that includes servicemembers successful each American warfare dating backmost to the Revolutionary War.

She thought her member would instrumentality connected the telephone of work for her generation. And helium did, but she soon learned she beryllium joining him.

"I didn't deliberation I would beryllium capable to service successful the military," Curtis said. "When this accidental came astir erstwhile I got bully capable astatine my sport. I was looking astatine the Army program, but upon talking with my member who had besides served successful the Air Force, I decided to springiness it a spell for the Air Force."

Now, arsenic she continues her household contented of serving successful the U.S. subject during a clip of war, she takes large a consciousness of grant successful the importance.

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"I don't deliberation immoderate peculiar clip is much honorable than an other," she said. "When I took the oath of enlistment, you motion up to support your country, and that's thing that I instrumentality seriously. The enactment that I bash with the World Class Athlete Program is different, it's a softer diplomacy, truthful I don't spot a batch of what my colleagues mightiness see...

"There's grant each astir erstwhile you motion up to support your country."

The WCAP programme delivered a medalist for Team USA astatine 2026, including Air Force women's bobsledder Jasmine Jones.

Jones became a viral societal media sensation for an interrogation with Fox News Digital erstwhile she expressed large pridefulness successful representing the U.S. connected the satellite stage, astatine a clip erstwhile galore Americans craved patriotism among their Olympians.

And past Jones went connected to triumph bronze successful women's bobsled, alongside teammate Olympic fable Kaillie Humphries, helping Humphries go the astir decorated bobsled jock successful history.

Jones was honored for her medal during the Pentagon ceremony.

"I was honored to beryllium recognized by Secretary Hegseth aft medaling successful Cortina and to stock that infinitesimal representing my country," Jones told Fox News Digital.

"Being an Airman allows maine to service successful much ways than one, and I’m grateful for that opportunity. The unity wrong our WCAP squad is strong. We pb by example, enactment 1 another, and proceed pushing each different to scope our fullest potential."

Meanwhile, the subject arsenic a full continues historical operations successful the Middle East down the enactment of Hegseth and President Donald Trump.

Hegseth warned Friday that the U.S. subject "will sprout to destroy" immoderate Iranian ships that are laying mines successful the Strait of Hormuz. 

"President Trump has authorized the United States Navy to destruct immoderate Iranian accelerated boats that effort to enactment mines successful the h2o oregon disrupt transition done the Strait of Hormuz, to sprout and kill," Hegseth said. "Our commanders person wide rules of engagement. If Iran is putting mines successful the h2o oregon different threatening American commercialized shipping oregon American forces, we volition sprout to destroy. No hesitation. Just similar the cause boats successful the Caribbean." 

Hegseth besides said that Iran’s "battered" military, specifically the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has been "reduced to a pack of pirates with a flag."

HEGSETH DECLARES 'DECISIVE MILITARY VICTORY' OVER IRAN

"They cloak their aggression successful slogans, but the satellite present sees them for what they are -- criminals connected the precocious seas. They don't power anything. They're acting similar pirates, acting similar terrorists. They're the ones who laic indiscriminate mines, who sprout astatine random ships, who killed 45,000 of their ain people, guiltless protesters, successful the people of weeks, their ain people. They are the atrocious actors," Hegseth said.  

"The vessels that the Iranians seized successful caller days, a mates of them, they're not American ships, they're not Israeli ships. They're conscionable random ships wherever they drove their small speedboats up to and changeable astatine those ships with AK-47's. Anyone with a speedboat, a weapon and the incorrect intentions tin bash that. They cognize that we, the United States of America, power the travel of planetary shipping, and we cognize that they know. Their existent navy is astatine the bottommost of the Arabian Gulf," Hegseth added. 

Trump and his medication person repeatedly made it wide they are looking for a bid statement with Iran, and person expressed optimism astir reaching 1 soon.

Hegseth besides said Friday that, "Iran has a historical accidental to marque a superior deal, and the shot is successful their court."

"Either way, the War Department stands acceptable for what comes next. Locked and loaded," Hegseth added.

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The remarks travel aft a scheduled 2nd circular of U.S.-Iran talks successful Islamabad failed to materialize this week. Vice President JD Vance and the remainder of the U.S. delegation ne'er departed. Reports indicated the Iranians said they would not negociate again successful idiosyncratic until the U.S. stopped its blockade.

Vance, U.S. peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, traveled to Pakistan for the archetypal circular of talks with the Iranians earlier this month, but nary woody was reached.

Fox News Digital's Greg Norman-Diamond, Landon Mion, Emma Bussey, Efrat Lachter, Alex Nitzberg and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

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