Transcript of Sec Hegseth shares his experiences from GITMO with current troops

What was it like for you in your 40s now, when you came down those stairs from that government plane this time, what was that like?

It is surreal. There's no other way to put it. I look in the faces of these men and women, and many of them are so young. And I, in some ways, see my face from 20 years ago or the face of my guys that I was here with. And I think about the anxieties, the uncertainty, the questions that we had, the things that were important to me then. That's why we always do lots of troop engagements with large groups and small groups. We ask any question, whatever you want, what do you want to know? What are you thinking about? What are you feeling? Because I had a lot of those same feelings when I was here. I'm just proud. I mean, these men and women make us proud. This is a really important admission to the Trump administration and to get a chance to execute, come back 20 years later. It's pretty cool.