The Bunker

There is both good and bad news with the way President Trump is trashing the Pentagon on his way out the door.

This week, The Bunker dives into the Pentagon’s lust for secrecy, its inability to maintain the weapons it already has, and its failure to keep track of how much it’s paying its workers.

This week, The Bunker touches down amid the political turmoil now buffeting the nation. Then it’s time to take off with an Air Force pilot killed because of multiple mistakes made by his superiors.

The Bunker: Change of Command

Back when the U.S. waged big-league wars, the Pentagon often spoke about BDA—Battle Damage Assessment—and how vital it was to determine the outcome of a bombing mission.

Crude proxies: Are we using the right tools when trying to assess military might? Strategically, as the election looms next week, are dollars the right proxy for military strength?

Last week the Navy announced plans to build a $450 million museum. But if its track record for controlling its warship costs is any guide, it’s going to end up costing a lot more than that.

The Bunker recalls sitting in the West Wing of the White House 34 years ago and interviewing former deputy defense secretary David Packard about the way the U.S. military buys its weapons.

President Trump has been betting on a yet-to-be-discovered COVID-19 vaccine to protect him and the nation, just as the U.S. military keeps reinventing silver bullets to win its wars. Both have achieved—if that’s even the right word—similar “success.”

One of the simplest ways for the Pentagon to save money is to reduce the number of humans in uniform. War-waging robots have long been the stuff of science fiction, but as flying drones have made clear recently, they’re becoming more real every day.

The U.S. is doing what soldiers call “walking the point”—out front, all alone, vulnerable to incoming fire—to ratchet up pressure against Iran.

This week The Bunker looks at two very different commanders-in-chief and their relationship with the military, and a pair of military technologies—one ours, one theirs—that are kind of like the pandemic, and simply won’t go away.