Secretary of Defense Rock

secretaryrofdefenserock.substack.comI'm Writing a Book!What that means for the newsletter going forward and how you can help!

15 July

Very excited to embark on this project! Without getting too far into the weeds just yet, it's going to be a history of American naval aviation in the Pacific (hence all the posting lately) during World War II from 1943 to 1945, told through the pilots and squadrons who flew off the carriers!

12h

Genuinely amazing that Rodgers, when grading on a scale for the GOP, is like a B tier candidate and he is still absolute ass

Boo!-per Lund@cooperlund.online

Who do I give to to get this in front of as many Michigan voters as possible?

12h

Maybe Michele Tafoya is like an B+ candidate in terms of charisma and messaging but holy hell is everyone else bad

@sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com

12h

Can we talk about the fact that Michael Whatley, literally the former head of the RNC, is so bad that he is leading the entire NC GOP into the Great Republican Election Turkey Shoot

Secretary of Defense Rock reposted

Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li

in which two nerds who each have more than a thousand hours in hearts of iron iv bitch about hearts of iron iv. but also it's important to understand why we are all still talking about world war two, and also how so much media essentially imagines "what if the fascist worldview was correct"

youtube.comThe Lies of Hearts of Iron (with Bret Devereaux)YouTube video by Liberal Currents

politico.comMamdani is using NYPD gym to host pickup basketball games with friendsThe choice of location has scrambled NYPD training operations, angering a police union and a Republican lawmaker.

Chris Sommerfeldt@c-sommerfeldt.bsky.social

New: Mayor Zohran Mamdani and a group of his friends have been secretly using the NYPD Police Academy’s gymnasium in Queens to play pickup basketball — scrambling some operations at the facility. w/ @grahamrayman.bsky.social & Joe Anuta www.politico.com/news/2026/10...

I’d give this a modicum of interest if he were showing up in the middle of the workday or something but come the fuck on

This is the best they got? Washed

Dawg with a capital D

VoteHub@votehub.com

North Carolina Early Vote Tracking 🌲 As of Oct. 26, 2026 Total early votes: 1,545,501 (+468,183) 39.6% of projected final turnout. Modeled 2026 Vote: 🔵 Roy Cooper: 56.4% - 66.0% 🔴 Michael Whatley : 32.0% - 41.6% Remaining votes in NC will be much more Republican. We rate this race as Solid D.

What if we get Valhalla?

Calm

14h

Calm

Ben McAdams (The Resurrection Arc)@purrtah.bsky.social

❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️

thenevadaindependent.comThe early voting blog, 2026 general - The Nevada IndependentUsing actual data from those who vote early, we track November's marquee races, including those for Nevada's governor, congressional seats and state Legislature.

19h

Calm

RalstonReports@ralstonreports.bsky.social

The early voting blog is updated! Dem lead in NV above 20,000 ballots and above 5 percent. Five days of in-person early voting left and after a dominant D weekend, Republicans need it to turn around or a wave is coming. Lots of data and charts: thenevadaindependent.com/article/the-...

14h

Xtra calm

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buff.lyPhotos | Kamala Harris and Scott Colom Campaign in ColumbusKamala Harris campaigned with Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate Scott Colom at a rally at Columbus High School. Here are some photos from the rally.

20h

Genuinely annoying we haven’t gotten a single poll from a quality pollster on this race the entire cycle

Mississippi Free Press@mississippifreepress.org

Former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom at Columbus High School on Oct. 22, 12 days ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. buff.ly/ltT63ud

Secretary of Defense Rock reposted

Tony Stark

@tonystark.bsky.social

23h

My latest: on the history and future of the tank on the battlefield. “Survivability, like attritability, is in the eye of the commander, after all. It’s all about what it buys you in your engagement, battle, and campaign in the aggregate.” open.substack.com/pub/breaking...

open.substack.comTanks for the MemoriesKilling the Myth of the Invincible and Obsolete Tank

Secretary of Defense Rock reposted

Dr. Jonathan Schroden

@jjschroden.bsky.social

22h

ONE MONTH until my book comes out! 🙌 It's available for pre-order across all your favorite book vendors, or at a 10% discount if you order direct from the publisher: www.bloomsbury.com/us/us-counte...

bloomsbury.comUS Counterterrorism Operations in AfghanistanIn this landmark work, Jonathan Schroden captures the complete history of US counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan. Beginning with the United States' over…

23h

Me doing my morning NC early vote check:

23h

Secretary of Defense Rock@sodrock.bsky.social

I will not extrapolate anything from day one early voting I will not extrapolate anything from day one early voting I will not extrapolate anything from day one early voting I will not extrapolate anything from day one early voting I will not extrapolate anything from day one early voting

“Hmm yes, all these strongman right wing assholes are losing, when is November 3rd…yes…calm”

The New York Times@nytimes.com

Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s longtime nationalist strongman, conceded defeat Sunday in a general election held after his once-tight grip on power was weakened by nearly two years of student-led protests. nyti.ms/4zegOaY

Secretary of Defense Rock reposted

Zach

@thrustwr.bsky.social

These guys have won (in practice). Their guys are in power. Cdrsalamander has been whining about how POC, women and other minorities were the only thing stopping the Navy from greatness since like 2007! And they still all sound like a bunch of whiny losers.

Mike Black@mikeblack114.bsky.social

we're getting the gang back together

Hilarious how all these dudes have no fun, no hobbies, no football, no video games, nothing. Just spending their Sunday afternoon bitching and moaning about @mikeblack114.bsky.social

Mike Black@mikeblack114.bsky.social

we're getting the gang back together

Hemry, Local Bartender@bartenderhemry.bsky.social

checking in on the president of the united states

Live look of the worst people you know:

Raphael Satter@raphae.li

This just hit the @reuters.com wire: BRAZIL'S LULA REELECTED PRESIDENT IN RUNOFF VOTE, DATAFOLHA PROJECTS

Lula:

Raphael Satter@raphae.li

This just hit the @reuters.com wire: BRAZIL'S LULA REELECTED PRESIDENT IN RUNOFF VOTE, DATAFOLHA PROJECTS

Dang someone beat me to it

Does he know something? Why is he not calm?

CJ Fogler@cjzero.bsky.social

😂

Calm

Say hello to the holy grail

I think this is still the only Japanese to English translation of a history of a IJN squadron, still a lot of gaps left in our understanding of the IJN Air Force’s especially from 1943-1945

Calm

brent 🌹🗽@therealbrent.bsky.social

Republicans will almost certainly pass Democrats at some point in Florida but everyone said that would be today and nope. I still expect like a ~5% loss for Nixon and Jolly but it’s fun to dream a little and follow this.

#otd “Halsey acted stupidly”

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MacArthur ran the war in the South Pacific with the Navy subordinated while Nimitz ran the war in the Central Pacific with the Army subordinated to the Navy. But this command structure was now converging on the Philippines and FDR and the JCS had not bothered to resolve as much as to manage it

Halsey answered to Nimitz who prescribed Halsey to destroy the Japanese fleet should it sortie out again while simultaneously covering the landings. However, Nimitz was not one to intervene in tactical matters which effectively made Halsey a “free agent” to do as he pleased

#otd “Halsey acted stupidly”

View full thread

Some of my favs from the battle (Toll’s narrative especially is excellent)

Personally, I’ve gone back and forth on how much Halsey should be blamed. The pacific command structure was a shared (but flawed imo) relationship between MacArthur and the Army and Nimiz and the Navy on the other. For the first 20 months of the war this was not really a problem…

Secretary of Defense Rock reposted

Ryan Wadle

@rdwadle.bsky.social

Halsey's personal papers include a copy of the letter he wrote his wartime chief of staff to state his desire to put Samuel Eliot Morison's "cojones in a vise" for blaming him for San Bernardino Strait.

Secretary of Defense Rock@sodrock.bsky.social

…although Halsey’s decade long campaign after the fact proclaiming he did nothing wrong did more than anything to mire the battle in controversy even though from the Japanese perspective, Shō-Gō 1 was, in the words of historian Paul Dull, “an exercise in utter stupidity”

#otd “Halsey acted stupidly”

Leyte Gulf remains arguably the most controversial battle in American naval history but the sheer capacity of the drama is still unsurpassed: the last clash of the battleships, the first Kamikazes, David McCampbell shooting down 9 planes in his MOH flight, the last stand of the tin can sailors…

Calm

AdotSad@adotsad.bsky.social

Boooo

Chat, is it good when you spend an hour on 4 sentences?

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brent 🌹🗽@therealbrent.bsky.social

oh my god

defensenews.comUS military needs ‘urgent revolutionary institutional change’ to prepare for modern war, Petraeus saysRet. Army Gen. David Petraeus praised the Pentagon’s new Autonomous Warfare Command but said the U.S. must rapidly prepare for modern autonomous war.

The Ukrainians literally just used tanks in their most recent counteroffensive lol

Defense News@defensenews-poster.bsky.social

US military needs ‘urgent revolutionary institutional change’ to prepare for modern war, Petraeus says - https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2026/10/23/us-military-needs-urgent-revolutionary-institutional-change-to-prepare-for-modern-war-petraeus-says/