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.
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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: 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?
The Bunker: High Seas of Make-Believe
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: Digging Into the Funny Money
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.
The Bunker: Vaccines and Wonder 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.”
The Bunker: Pork Eclipsing Policy
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 Bunker: Carrier Stool Pigeons
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.
