longer.blue

“Since Driscoll left, the Army has begun rolling back his modernization efforts, even as Hegseth announced a drone warfare headquarters that appears to mirror Driscoll’s plans. The Army’s acting chief of staff ordered Driscoll’s experimental drone battalion to revert to a standard airborne infantry unit, a decision one former senior officer said “nobody can” explain. At Donahue’s retirement ceremony at Fort Bragg, attendees reportedly referred to Hegseth as “No Tab Pete,” a jab at his failure to earn the Ranger qualification held by the commanders he removed. Driscoll was careful not to attack his former boss directly, saying “we probably agreed on more than 50 percent of things” and calling himself “a custodian of the seat for 18 months.” But one Army officer who worked at the Pentagon warned the cost of Hegseth’s priorities “is going to be measured in American lives, in our sons and daughters coming home in body bags.” From Aaron Parnas newsletter