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

Vol. 15 · No. 129 · Wednesday, 28 October 2026

Army

Army FRG unveils haunted house featuring spouses saying ‘I’m fine’

Soldiers describe Halloween attraction as more frightening than combat deployment

Hasan execution venue double-booked with Comic-Con

Trump announces sale of Patriot missiles to Russia

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Vol. 15 · No. 129

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Vol. 15 · No. 129 · Deployed worldwide

Wednesday

28 October 2026

0007 Zulu

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· Page 2

Major awakens Balrog by delving too deeply into shared drive

Filed · 1550

FORT CARSON, Colo. — Major Carl Vandemeer inadvertently awakened a Balrog this past Thursday, sources said, while delving into the 4th Infantry Division shared drive for an old product to reference.

The Balrog, an ancient demon of flame and shadow, was found buried beneath dozens of nested subfolders, inside a file marked “old products.” Vandemeer, a division G35 staff officer, claims to have been searching for a phone tree template when he stumbled upon the servant of Morgoth.

“Never reinvent the wheel, is what I'm always telling these LTs,” said Vandemeer. “Now obviously there’s been some second- and third-order effects that we didn’t anticipate, but that’s why we as leaders have got to be adaptable.”

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