President Trump, SECDEF, Mr. Musk and DOGE, I am the host of Chasing Ghosts: An Irregular Warfare Podcast and WarNotes: A Conflict Podcast. You are about to embark on a dark journey to discover the existential mismanagement and beggared martial imagination of the military mandarins at the Pentagon. You have to prepare to do savage bureaucratic combat with the most financially well-endowed military machine in the history of mankind whose penchant for defeat and stalemate has an unblemished record since 1945. Bureaucratic knife-fighting and Machiavellian combat is the only martial skill they...

USNS Cody USNS Cody (T-EPF-14), Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport, was christened on 25 February 2023 by ship's sponsor Averil D. Spencer, launched at Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama on 20 March 2023, and its delivery was accepted by the U.S. Navy on 11 January 2024. These are a fine balance of weight (hence the aluminum construction) and speed capability. It’s a transport, not an amphibious assault ship. It is being mothballed. My friend PTS weighted in: "There are multiple problems with the EPF and they were over hyped and vastly underdelivered. As mentioned, they are fragile with...

The DDG(X) program will be over-budget, very late and a shadow of its naval architectural ambition. Of course. The US Navy has seemingly abandoned naval gunnery at the 5" level and above and the latest navy build program for a new destroyer is removing the capability. While missiles are certainly the predominant means to project power from naval ships, there is certainly a call for naval gunnery in certain operational tasks. The increasing density and threat capabilities of drones is making gunnery important also at levels below that caliber to bring back the anti-aircraft utility of...

The stewards of other people's money continue to disappoint. While 70% of the $6.4 billion charged on 2.3 million government cards that year was found to be appropriate, 12% was inadvertently spent on the wrong things, such as alcohol or in Google’s online store for games, smartphone applications and video streaming services. Inspectors also found cards used on federal holidays and during major sporting events when employees were unlikely to have work expenses. About 2% of spending was considering abuse and less than 1% fraud, according to the report. That’s down from a decade ago, when the...

The quality of our enemies defines us. The Center for American Prosperity (CAP) opposition makes me certain Pete Hegseth is the right man at the right time. The evil and execrable John Podesta runs CAP. That John Podesta. He replaced John Kerry as the Climate Envoy. The consequences of Hegseth’s appointment would reverberate far beyond the Pentagon. His lack of credibility and diplomatic acumen threatens to undermine alliances, embolden adversaries, and weaken America’s standing on the global stage—all outcomes that raise risks to the safety of the American people. America’s armed forces...

Please note the highlights from the new report from CRS below on the Ford-class carrier fiasco speaks to "welding issues", call me Captain Obvious but in shipbuilding or the building of any exquisite platforms, the identification of welding issues infers a complete welding inspection of the entire ship. That ain't cheap but then again when you build these future fish apartments on the taxpayer's dime, the pursuit of excellence is always optional. Procuring more of the incredibly poorly designed and executed new nuclear super-carriers is not only martial malpractice but a death warrant for...

Aiviq The US has 1.5 icebreakers because it has had to cannibalize one of its ancient and sclerotic icebreakers to make the remaining heavy work.But for all this, the same Coast Guard bought the Aiviq for $125 million late last year. And don't expect them to get this right. The ship was built to operate in the Arctic, but it has a type of propulsion system susceptible to failure in ice.  ...a type of propulsion system susceptible to failure in ice. ...a type of propulsion system susceptible to failure in ice. ...a type of propulsion system susceptible to failure in ice. Former Coast Guard...