Ops Brief 077: Daily Drop - 17 July 2025 (The Air Force Runs on Excel and Hope)

Welcome to your no-fluff, sarcasm-fueled download of the Ones Ready Ops Brief for July 17th. In this episode, we cover everything from Excel-budget nightmares and B-1 Lancer drama to Space Force doing... whatever it is Space Force does. Jared rips through the latest military headlines with his signature blend of humor, eye rolls, and reluctant patriotism.

We kick things off with a sneak peek at the Operator Training Summit and a shoutout to the surprisingly effective (and very unscammed) Tasty Gains gummies. Then it’s all gas, no brakes through a gauntlet of DoD absurdities: pipe-dream weapon standardization in NATO, a billion-dollar GPS system that’s somehow still in testing, and the Air Force saving $10 billion by using—wait for it—Excel. Yeah, that’s a real thing.

We wrap with cyber hacks, Ukraine fatigue, F-35 wishlists, and a whole lot of “wait, that’s real?” moments. Buckle up, this one's got teeth.

🔥 Key Takeaways:

👀 The Air Force saved $10B with spreadsheets—and possibly divine intervention
💣 B-1 crash blamed on “culture” (aka leadership dysfunction)
🇵🇭 U.S. building a fast boat base in the Philippines to troll China
🛰️ Space Force makes Warrior Games debut and gets serious with on-orbit warfare
🧠 Tasty Gains creatine gummies are legit, no matter what TikTok says
🕵️‍♂️ Chinese hackers breached a National Guard network for months
✈️ F-35 procurement may triple, if the retired generals get their way
🔄 NATO urged to stop mooching off U.S. military hardware
📉 Ukraine war strategy: hope, vibes, and more funding
🧢 Fort Bragg name flip-flop continues to be an identity crisis in slow motion
⏱️ Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro: “One’s Ready Go!”
00:07 – What “attributes-based” selection really means
01:00 – Operator Training Summit plug
02:00 – Tasty Gains: Not the scam you think it is
02:45 – Trump picks new Space Force #2s
03:30 – NATO still can’t standardize rockets (shocker)
04:30 – U.S. builds fast boat base in Philippines
05:00 – $10.4B saved via… Excel and magic
06:45 – B-1 crash and the "bad culture" blame game
07:45 – Arkansas Guard’s MQ-9 squad wins big
08:30 – GPS system accepted after 12 years and huge delays
09:25 – Explaining the Nunn-McCurdy Act (aka how bad projects get flagged)
10:20 – Space Force joins Warrior Games—get rekt, nerds
10:45 – BBC visits Space Force missile tracking base
11:20 – Space Force trains for on-orbit warfare
12:00 – New international strategy: actual teamwork, maybe?
12:40 – Chinese hackers infiltrate National Guard network
13:40 – FY26 NDAA adds pay, troops, and defense dollars
14:45 – Fort Bragg: now Fort Liberty… but maybe back again?
15:30 – Senate throws billions at ICBMs, drones, and MILNET
16:20 – Netherlands to NATO: “Y’all got problems without us”
17:00 – Israel-Iran conflict lessons: cyber + airpower = win
18:20 – More weapons to Ukraine… again
18:50 – Retired brass beg for more F-35s and E-7 funding
19:20 – Space Force goes international (aka a trip to Canada)
19:50 – Final plug: Nashville OTS—be there or be weak

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