PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – Five former secretaries of defense are calling on Congress to hold immediate hearings on President Trump’s recent firings of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several other senior military leaders.
WE WILL SEE. Team Trump’s recent Pentagon leadership changes are unprecedented in their scale and riskiness. Far from bringing fresh and smart perspectives to national security, they are most likely to weaken the combat effectiveness of the armed forces at a dangerous time for the US. OR WILL MAKE OUR MILITARY MORE EFFECTIVE AND LETHAL.
Navy secretary nominee blasts ‘systemic failures’ plaguing the fleet. He asserted that the service is in desperate need of reform and promised to bring his outside business experience to the task of refocusing and reenergizing naval operations.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense stories ending the week from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.
Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEFING – the PDB:
NATIONAL SECURITY
HOMELAND SECURITY
Mexico has extradited 29 high-level organized crime operatives and cartel leaders to the US, as it faces intense pressure from Trump to show that it is tackling fentanyl trafficking.
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
Transgender troops will be separated from military. Any service member or recruit who has been diagnosed with or treated for gender dysphoria is disqualified from serving — unless they prove they meet a specific warfighting need and adhere to severe restrictions on their day-to-day behavior.
Pentagon orders new social media purge to remove DEI mentions from all of the department’s social media sites and untangle confusing personnel reduction moves.
OH WELL. No more female 4-stars. SECDEF Hegseth fired Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s first female chief, last week without any clear explanation — part of a purge of top uniformed leadership that included the Joint Chiefs chairman, who is Black.
POLITICS
Musk’s DOGE to confront the DoD checkbook. SECDEF Hegseth has said DOGE will be welcomed at the department but is simply accessing its accounting systems. The Department of Defense has failed seven consecutive audits, its financial information systems are a disaster, and solutions have been elusive.
US POWER OVERSEAS
F-16s, KC-135s brave frigid cold for NORAD exercise. Airmen from across North American Aerospace Defense Command deployed with fighters, tankers, and more to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland in recent weeks.
IRAN THREAT/ISRAEL WARS
Israel’s army admits failures on Oct. 7. An investigation by the Israeli military has determined that Hamas was able to carry out the deadliest attack in Israeli history because the much more powerful Israeli army misjudged the terror group’s intentions and underestimated its capabilities.
CHINA THREAT
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Trump says he trusts Putin will ‘keep his word’ on a deal to end the war in Ukraine. He added that talks to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are “very well advanced” and he expressed confidence that Putin won’t press to restart the war if a truce can be reached.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy: A ‘dictator’, or a ‘Ukrainian Churchill’? A political outsider who upended norms, Zelenskyy is now the face of Ukraine’s defense against Russia. But what shapes his thinking?
SPACE THREAT
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
HMMMM – Britain is often portrayed as a nation in decline, but its global influence and capabilities remain significant. As one of the world’s leading nations, the UK still punches above its weight on the international stage.
Is a united European voice possible in the age of Trump, Putin and far-right politics? Germany’s new leader intends to find out.
US MILITARY
US mobilizes entire B-1B bomber fleet. The Air Force has temporarily relocated all its Lancer bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, in a move not seen in 30 years.
END of PDB
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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Trump knows what he is doing. And the people he has installed are far better than those he removed. Government audits are necessary if we want to control spending and eliminate the food line for the people who are ripping off the taxpayers. Finally someone has to shut the little jerk who today showed his ass big time after spending way too much of money from the USA via Biden on a war that he egged on. That little jerk will be back unless he trusts China to bankroll his war.
Good job sending the jerk packing Trump. THE END! And have a great rest of the day Mr. President!
Needed too bloated to fight
Bloated since 1945 onward
Concerning the firings of the Chairman and the service chiefs of staff. GEN Brown was not fired for being black (or even too brown), but for being woke and sacrifing readiness and effectiveness to DEI. Same for the service chiefs. Unfortunately, the cuts have not gone deep enough since all of the senior officers who have come up over probably the past 10-15 years have checked the boxes for PC and woke. We need war fighters, strategic thinkers, not social workers.
I still disagree with Trump on trusting Putin. IMO, Putin will rebuild his depleted forces and have another go somewhere in a few years. We had him on the ropes but caved in the name of diplomacy. Now just a matter of time.
You have a very interesting site and I relate to the process of collecting your data. I spent a few years doing so for ONI/NIS/NCIS. Actually it was still NIS when I retired.
I also enjoyed reading your CV. It’s a shadow of mine. I was Reg. Army in the 60’s, MOS 342, Crypto with T/S Crypto clearance, served one term in Korea promoted to SP/5, and discharged out at Ft. Gordon, Ga in64.
Spent 5yrs on the California Highway Patrol then applied to and was hired by ONI in 69. I started in So. Cal. doing BI’s, then to the Philippines for the Navy’s first attempt to be proactive in stopping crime, (Scoutmaster/Stableboy projects), Pensacola for 3 years, Hawaii for 3 then NS Mayport for 4 years as ASAC then off to the UK for 3 also as ASAC and CE/CI supervisor. That was 84-87. Final tour at NAS Atlanta as Rep then retired as a GS-13.
Went to Bosnia in 97 as a US policeman for a year.
A native Southern Californian, I was quickly introduced to really bad Spanish, leaned Korean while in the army, Tagalog in the Philippines, picked up French in Europe and som Serbs-Croation with the UN.
I was a certified Scuba Diver, federal firearms instructor (FBI school and FLETEC as NCIS agent), certified Arson Investigator from the Emmitsburg, Md school (pre FEMA) and I write for Americaoutloud.com and Standupamericausfoundation, (MG Paul Vallely). While I did manage to obtain an AA degree once, my real education was in the field of counter espionage, criminal investigations and whatever I was assigned to do.
At Pensacola, I served 14 months as Special Agent Afloat, crossed the Atlantic on a Cruiser USS Dale, and floated around the Hawaiian Islands aboard a Nuke for a week. I never jumped out of an airplane.
While I was not an Officer, I also deployed with a MEU/BLT from Kaneohe MCB, Hawaii.
I am an AFIO member and I earned a CPP, Fraud Certification Investigator and Arson Investigator during my career.
BTW I’m not looking for a job, I’m too old to get back in harness, just recognizing one collector to another. I still have sources and a son who is a 14 at McDill as a retired Lt. Col USA (SF) 5th Gp.
Anyway, it’s a good site. Thanks. Always good to stay in the loop.
GMc
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