Bill Buppert | The Libertarian Institute

Up in Smoke: The Other Space Race Continues

by Bill Buppert | Jun 17, 2024 | Blog

A comprehensive ban on all nuclear testing occurred in the 1990s. The Soviet Union's last nuclear test took place on 24 October 1990; the United Kingdom's on 26 November 1991 and the United States' on 23 September 1992. Advances in the ICBM arena have continued apace but the US and the European nuclear powers are way behind. Whether you're aware of it or not, the majority of the American nuclear arsenal is ancient, sclerotic and wedded to a command and control system that is aging and not well. In researching these essays, I always run into stuff I had no awareness of and I ran into this...

Ep 045 “CG Excursion Praxis: Rational Concepts of Operations (CONOPS) (Part Two)”

by Bill Buppert | Jun 17, 2024 | Chasing Ghosts Podcast

I continue my discussion of a rather technical treatment of developing and using Concepts of Operations (CONOPS). This episode further examines the timeless and tedious process of getting baselines and expectations right for small and large projects alike. References: Special Forces Detachment Mission Planning Guide GTA 31-01-003 January 2020 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE STANDARD PRACTICE WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURES FOR DEFENSE MATERIEL ITEMS MILSTD 881F 13 May 2022 Cost of 13 NASA projects skyrocket due to improper reviews My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me

Fat Amy Can’t Catch a Break

by Bill Buppert | Jun 14, 2024 | Blog

Fat Amy is a nickname for the F35 Lightning II. As long as an F16 and comparable in weight to a heavy class F15, the F35 isn't necessarily a light aircraft. Flying cost per hour may have been reduced to $34,000 per hour. Maybe. The mission capable rate, the percentage of time during which the aircraft can fly and perform at least one of its tasked missions—and the full mission capable rate—the percentage of time during which the aircraft can perform all of its tasked missions—are key measures of the health and readiness of a military aircraft fleet. Lockheed-Martin just built the thousandth...

Consensual Dueling: Bring Back Single Combat

by Bill Buppert | Jun 13, 2024 | Blog

I happen to think that consensual dueling has many positive aspects for civilized societies that would make our lives better. Politicians especially liked to take part in these martial contests, the possibilities in the contemporary milieu are delightful. For those who characterize this is as murder/suicide, you're wrong. Murder begins where self defense ends. Honor is a gift a man gives to himself. Jane is one of my favorite contemporary commentators on history from a liberty perspective. Her Pearl Harbor controversy essay was a first rate exposition in the now online Liberty magazine (RIP...

Pentagon: Send More Money!

by Bill Buppert | Jun 12, 2024 | Blog

You can't make this up, the scale of incompetence and brain-dead planning on the part of the most expensive military paper tiger in the Earth's history is breathtaking. Best of both worlds from a government perspective: huge budgets and no accountability. The Pentagon failed its sixth audit in a row last month. But semantics aside, one major reason the Pentagon keeps failing audits is because it can’t keep track of its property. Last year, the Pentagon couldn’t properly account for a whopping 61% of its $3.5 trillion in assets. That figure increased this year, with the department...

The Fat Leonard Scandal in the USN: Corruption at the Highest Levels

by Bill Buppert | Jun 11, 2024 | Blog

Craig Whitlock, author of the incredible The Afghanistan Papers, does a great job revealing just how high and vast the institutional rot is in the DoD. Craig Whitlock’s book outlines the long story of Leonard Glenn Francis, AKA “Fart Leonard” on the US Navy and the individuals involved through his business dealings in the Western Pacific. He used bribery, fraud, and manipulation to exploit weaknesses in the system and gain favor with high-ranking Navy officials. The story highlights the culture of corruption and the abuse of power within the Navy. The book also explores the role of...

A Morality of Anger and Guilt

by Bill Buppert | Jun 10, 2024 | Blog

Splendid Memorial Day speech by Matthew Hoh: The idea of my talk was originally going to be that of the unending costs of war, and I found that to be very daunting for a number of reasons. One, I just didn't know where to begin, what to talk about, what facet of the costs of war, the unending costs of war to emphasize, to talk about. I was terrified of the thought of leaving something out. One, because someone might be like, "Hey, Matt, you forgot that." So that's a hit to my ego. But more importantly, what cost of war has more importance than the other, what can have more importance than...

Nothing New in Military Technology Disasters

by Bill Buppert | Jun 6, 2024 | Blog

Readers think I am highly critical of Western military foibles and bad decisions (I am) but history is replete with mismanagement and poor planning planet-wide in military technology. Like the Indian nuclear submarine disaster from leaving a hatch open on the INS Arihan in 2018 or the German Type VIIC U-boat (U-1206) sinking due to a high pressure toilet, history is replete with poor technology implementation. The new Swedish warship, Vasa, launches in 1628 and sinks in twenty minutes. Looks expensive... “The warship survived the first blast of wind it encountered on its maiden voyage in...