Analysis & Commentary
Defense analysis grounded in installation-level experience. No DARPA abstractions — real problems, real numbers.
Six Percent Got Through
Iran launched 541 drones at Gulf states. Defense systems stopped 506. But 35 got through — and one hit the Fifth Fleet's headquarters.
The Shahed Came Home
The US reverse-engineered Iran's Shahed-136 and used the clone against Tehran. But one copied drone doesn't make a strategy.
The First Movers Weren't Pilots
In Operation Epic Fury, cyber operators struck first — blinding Iran's communications before a single bomb dropped.
The Fleet They Didn't Plan For
China spent 30 years building a kill chain to push carriers back 1,000 miles. What happens when we send 200 autonomous vessels instead?
The Backup Plan Was Buckshot
A senior leader said buckshot was the backup for a drone attack. I wrote a whitepaper on why that would get people killed.
The Pentagon Bought a Dog and Won't Feed It
We spend billions building autonomous systems, then starve them of sustainment funding. The valley of death isn't about buying — it's about keeping.
ORCA vs. Ghost Shark
Boeing's ORCA: $885M and 8 years. Anduril's Ghost Shark: ~$100M and 3 years. Same mission, radically different models.
Your Boss's Voice Was Fake
AI voice cloning can replicate a Flag Officer's voice from 3 seconds of audio. The next social engineering attacks won't come through email.
From Car Shop to Counter-UAS
9 years diagnosing German cars. Then a Navy building with no manual. The outside perspective became the edge.
GenAI.mil: 3M Users, Zero IL6
The DoD has 3M+ users on commercial GenAI. None on classified networks. The gap between "use AI" and "use AI where it matters."
Replicator: Thousands Promised, Hundreds Delivered
The Pentagon promised thousands of autonomous systems by August 2025. We got hundreds. Nobody calls that a win.
Nobody Gives You a Manual
I didn't know what an N-code was. I didn't know "the Flag" meant an admiral. I didn't know a "P-halt" could kill your entire program.
Things I've built. Real systems, running in production.
AI Job Assistant
Automated career intelligence platform. 691 companies, 19 sources, 24K+ jobs, runs every 4 hours. ATS adapters for 8 systems. React frontend with cert study tools. Built because applying manually wasn't efficient enough.
AI Home Security & Defense System
Fully automated, layered home defense. AI event detection, multi-tier alerting, autonomous response. Different escalation paths based on event classification. Not Ring cameras — a real system.
Defense Analysis Platform (This Site)
Custom WebGL GLSL shaders (FBM noise mesh, tactical grid, film grain). Pure HTML/CSS/JS — no framework, no build step, no dependencies.
From Car Shop to Counter-UAS
I spent 9 years running a German automotive diagnostics shop in San Diego. Grew it from $600K to $1.2M. Every problem is a systems problem — you're either diagnosing the right thing or replacing parts until you're broke.
Then I brought that mentality to the DoD. GS-13 analyst at CNIC, then PM at Booz Allen supporting Navy autonomous vessel programs. $23M budget submissions through PPBE. Counter-UAS deployments across international installations.
When I was deploying counter-drone systems in Europe, I told leadership that jammers would only work against registered drones. Once AI let the drone fly without a radio link, the whole approach breaks. Now I see it happening in real time.
I'm not the person at DARPA making strategy. I'm the person at the installation who has to make it work — and who builds the system to fix it when it doesn't.