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

A group of 10 American Olympians who serve in the U.S. military were honored at the Pentagon on April 17.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth, between leading the efforts in the war on Iran, found time to meet with the athletes for a ceremony to honor their accomplishments in 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 every day you get invited into Sec. War's office," U.S. bobsledder Frankie Del Duca told Fox News Digital. "We had a good conversation about the Army."

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Del Duca was the Team USA Olympic flag bearer in Cortina back in February. As an American of Italian descent, it held a special cultural significance to him and his family that he had the honor in Italy.

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

"I'm infantry," he said. "There's different assignments I can take as I gain experience. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. I'm very proud to serve our country, and I love our country and America."

Hegseth himself was an Army infantry officer who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay.

But so far Del Duca has only ever done athlete work for the military, enlisting in 2019 and training as a bobsledder at Lake Placid, New York. But as a WCAP athlete, he will serve in a military-related role as well.

"We've had members of WCAP that have been in the Army first... and then we have some that maybe do that after," Del Duca said, adding that he falls into the "after" group.

"Where I may be stationed next, and where I may, different assignments, where I might end up, I'm going to take those same lessons that I've learned and apply them to that next unit. So it's something that I'm very grateful for and proud of. And I hope that spreads throughout our country. I hope it shows that we're together and that we're resilient, and that we're fit and we're ready."

Del Duca is a young father of two sons who are each less than four years old.

"It's made me a better father," Del Duca said of his experience in the Army. "I have two sons, [ages] one and three, they keep me on my toes."

Other branches of the military are represented well in the WCAP, especially the Air Force.

Team USA skeleton athlete Kelly Curtis, who was also honored at the ceremony, is preparing for deployment right back to Italy after competing at the Milan Cortina games.

"I'm going back to the 31st communications squadron at Aviano Air Base," Curtis told Fox News Digital. "I'm a knowledge operations technician... it's basically like an information traffic cop."

Curtis says she has a lineage in her family, on her mother's side, that includes servicemembers in every American war dating back to the Revolutionary War.

She thought her brother would take on the call of duty for her generation. And he did, but she soon learned she be joining him.

"I didn't think I would be able to serve in the military," Curtis said. "When this opportunity came around when I got good enough at my sport. I was looking at the Army program, but upon talking with my brother who had also served in the Air Force, I decided to give it a go for the Air Force."

Now, as she continues her family tradition of serving in the U.S. military during a time of war, she takes great a sense of honor in the importance.

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"I don't think any particular time is more honorable than an other," she said. "When I took the oath of enlistment, you sign up to defend your country, and that's something that I take seriously. The work that I do with the World Class Athlete Program is different, it's a softer diplomacy, so I don't see a lot of what my colleagues might see...

"There's honor all around when you sign up to defend your country."

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

Jones became a viral social media sensation for an interview with Fox News Digital when she expressed great pride in representing the U.S. on the world stage, at a time when many Americans craved patriotism among their Olympians.

And then Jones went on to win bronze in women's bobsled, alongside teammate Olympic legend Kaillie Humphries, helping Humphries become the most decorated bobsled athlete in history.

Jones was honored for her medal during the Pentagon ceremony.

"I was honored to be recognized by Secretary Hegseth after medaling in Cortina and to share that moment representing my country," Jones told Fox News Digital.

"Being an Airman allows me to serve in more ways than one, and I’m grateful for that opportunity. The unity within our WCAP team is strong. We lead by example, support one another, and continue pushing each other to reach our fullest potential."

Meanwhile, the military as a whole continues historic operations in the Middle East behind the leadership of Hegseth and President Donald Trump.

Hegseth warned Friday that the U.S. military "will shoot to destroy" any Iranian ships that are laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. 

"President Trump has authorized the United States Navy to destroy any Iranian fast boats that attempt to put mines in the water or disrupt passage through the Strait of Hormuz, to shoot and kill," Hegseth said. "Our commanders have clear rules of engagement. If Iran is putting mines in the water or otherwise threatening American commercial shipping or American forces, we will shoot to destroy. No hesitation. Just like the drug boats in the Caribbean." 

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

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"They cloak their aggression in slogans, but the world now sees them for what they are -- criminals on the high seas. They don't control anything. They're acting like pirates, acting like terrorists. They're the ones who lay indiscriminate mines, who shoot at random ships, who killed 45,000 of their own people, innocent protesters, in the course of weeks, their own people. They are the bad actors," Hegseth said.  

"The vessels that the Iranians seized in recent days, a couple of them, they're not American ships, they're not Israeli ships. They're just random ships where they drove their little speedboats up to and shot at those ships with AK-47's. Anyone with a speedboat, a gun and the wrong intentions can do that. They know that we, the United States of America, control the flow of global shipping, and we know that they know. Their real navy is at the bottom of the Arabian Gulf," Hegseth added. 

Trump and his administration have repeatedly made it clear they are looking for a peace agreement with Iran, and have expressed optimism about reaching one soon.

Hegseth also said Friday that, "Iran has a historic chance to make a serious deal, and the ball is in their court."

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

The remarks come after a scheduled second round of U.S.-Iran talks in Islamabad failed to materialize this week. Vice President JD Vance and the rest of the U.S. delegation never departed. Reports indicated the Iranians said they would not negotiate again in person until the U.S. stopped its blockade.

Vance, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, traveled to Pakistan for the first round of talks with the Iranians earlier this month, but no deal 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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