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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. 

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The Bunker logo, done in military stencil, in front of the Pentagon building

The Bunker: $200 billion more for the military?

This week in The Bunker: there’s a new push underway to fatten up an already-bloated Pentagon; the soaring costs of care for U.S. veterans (which should be included as part of the defense budget); the SECDEF’s new government-supplied house gets a $50K “emergency” coat of fresh paint; and more. 

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The Bunker: Iron Dumb

This week in The Bunker:  The U.S. launches another futile effort to render itself invulnerable to “all” overseas aerial threats; latest actions by commander-in-chief petty officer; The Bunker turns five today!; and more. 

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The Bunker: Rubber checks and imbalances

This week in The Bunker: the Pentagon’s new boss signals White House overreach and a loss of congressional guts; President Donald Trump calls for a big boost in U.S. defense spending; an IG report highlights the challenge of tracking that spending; and more.

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The Bunker: Sloppy Pentagon shopping

This week in The Bunker: why the costs of complex weapons rise as those for complicated consumer items fall; another 80% target for Pentagon readiness; an environmentally-friendly nuclear bomber; and more.

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The Bunker: Heaping Hyperbole

This week in The Bunker: the Navy plans to spend a cool $1 trillion to expand its fleet; the Pentagon pursues yet another wonder weapon; Russian progress in Ukraine could be costly; and more.

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The Bunker: Borders, subs, and flab

This week in 2024’s final Bunker: President-elect Trump makes clear he wants the U.S. military to carry out “mass deportations” of undocumented immigrants; lawmakers charge the Navy with submarine shenanigans; the U.S military needs a major rebuild; and more. 

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The Bunker: Pilots, missiles, & booze — oh my!

This week in The Bunker: big changes could be coming, including no pilots aboard the next Air Force fighter; no bullets aboard the Navy’s jinxed warship; no “bottoms up” for the next secretary of defense; and more. 

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The Bunker: Is Real Change Coming to the Pentagon?

This week in The Bunker: How much fundamental reform could the Trump administration bring to a bloated Department of Defense; the Navy pushes for a new nuclear-tipped cruise missile that another president threw overboard more than 30 years ago; the U.S. provides military aircraft to the same communist government it fought 50+ years ago in Vietnam; and more.

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The Bunker: Hybrid Hardware Hijinks

This week in The Bunker: The Marine Corps’ desire to fly aircraft capable of short takeoffs and landings has saddled the Pentagon with a pair of costly and troubled platforms, as two new reports make clear; and more. 

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The Bunker: President Trump’s Pentagon Pick

This week in The Bunker: Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s candidate to serve as defense secretary, has so much baggage that he could be a luggage carousel at major U.S. airport; it’s up to the Senate to pull the plug; and more.

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The Bunker: Trump 2.0

This week in The Bunker: a quick tour of the horizon on what might be ahead for U.S. national security in a second Trump administration, when it comes to policy, personnel, and procurement; and more.

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