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The Duffel Brief · the free edition, Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Vol. 15 · No. 124 · Saturday, 17 October 2026

OpFor

Iran condemns US plan to livestream execution as barbaric

Tehran questions whether America has completely abandoned standards of human decency

Vetbro apparel company pivots from stupid shirts to aggressively homoerotic ones

AI deemed ‘too smart’ to replace infantry

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Vol. 15 · No. 124

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Vol. 15 · No. 124 · Deployed worldwide

Saturday

17 October 2026

1202 Zulu

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← Front page
Army · Page 4

Army secretary decries 'PowerPoint in parade form' for Trump's birthday

Senior leaders cite “mission creep,” cosplay mishaps, and energy drinks as key factors in birthday parade debacle.

Filed · 0500

THE PENTAGON — After a lukewarm performance at President Donald Trump’s birthday parade, Army brass gathered in the E-Ring for an after-action review and ultimately concluded that the “parade could have been an email,” sources confirmed today.

“We’re catching heat for troops phoning it in,” said Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, who anonymously leaked the meeting minutes. “But the parade fell victim to ‘mission creep.’ It was supposed to be a birthday tribute… then we added the Army’s 250th anniversary… then Coinbase, the UFC, and Scotts Miracle-Gro® signed on as sponsors.”

Sources noted that the Department of Veterans Affairs recently used Gmail to terminate 83,000 employees, signaling that digital correspondence has overtaken traditional pomp. “Maybe next time we just CC everyone and spare the public the TikTok drill teams,” muttered one senior defense official.

Driscoll continued, visibly agitated.

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