The Bunker: An In-your-face Declaration of Failure
Tectonic shifts: National defense is a lot more complicated than you might think, as two crises make plain.
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The Bunker
A cheat sheet for what you need to know about the Department of Defense, how we’re waging our wars, and how the Pentagon spends our taxpayer dollars. The Bunker is both pro-troop and pro-taxpayer.
Written by
Mark Thompson
The Bunker: Get-Into-War-Free Card
Bleak Week: Civilians turnstiling through the Pentagon, Congress MIA when it comes to combat, the “arsenal of democracy” is running on fumes, and two Air Force pilots run out of sky.
The Bunker: Defense Contractors Strike Back
The Bunker bids President Trump farewell, as Miller time comes to an end at the Pentagon.
The Bunker: Caught Flat-Footed, Yet Again
For the second time in less than a year, our vaunted national-security apparatus has failed us.
The Bunker: Where’s the Sweet Spot?
Yawn (rubs eyes). We’re back? Did we miss anything? Actually, in The Bunker’s absence, we got to see the U.S. military rebuff President Trump & Co., and Congress override one of his vetoes for the first time…
The Bunker: Daunting Challenges
Following the Electoral College’s confirmation of Joe Biden as the nation’s 46th president, The Bunker checks out his Pentagon nominee, and the assorted challenges he’ll face, including a naval-fleet fantasy.
The Bunker: Crash Course
There is both good and bad news with the way President Trump is trashing the Pentagon on his way out the door.
The Bunker: We’ve Got Secrets
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.
The Bunker: Profoundly Harrowing
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
The Bunker: Change of Command
The Bunker: Whose Thumbs Are on the Scale of the Pentagon’s Budget?
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.
The Bunker: Measuring War’s Yardsticks
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?
