Ops Brief 033: Daily Drop - 24 April 2025 (Microreactors, Shady Signal Chats, and the 20-Step Beard Waiver Saga)

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Jared is speedrunning this Daily Drop like it’s the last brief before weekend libo. But don’t worry—this episode still slaps. From Air Force leadership dodging infrastructure bills, to a shaving waiver flowchart that sounds like a side quest from Fallout, it’s everything you didn’t know you needed to rage-laugh through.

In this episode:
 ☢️ Nuclear microreactors are coming to Alaska (yes, seriously)
 📦 The B-21 is flexing, and China should be nervous
 ✈️ A C-17 just got refueled by a commercial tanker, which apparently took 30 levels of approval and a priest
 📉 Space Force: secretly launching stuff into orbit while governors and contractors scream into the void
 📶 And yes—Pete Hegseth is still Signal-chatting like your conspiracy uncle

You wanted updates? You got nuclear reactors, missing airmen, and possibly the most bureaucratic beard policy ever written.

🔥 Key Takeaways:

• Nuclear microreactors are real and they’re coming to an AFB near you
• Air Mobility Command did the unthinkable: used a civilian tanker
• There’s a 20-step beard waiver process… for real
• Space Force + NRO = black budget bros stay winning
• Hegseth leaks = OPSEC nightmare meets encrypted boomer energy
• Protesters at Holloman accomplished... absolutely nothing
• China’s mineral chokehold proves we learned nothing from COVID
• SpaceX is launching everything but your Wi-Fi password at this point

⏱️ Timestamps:

• 0:00:00 – Intro, quick rundown warning, PAO update & OTS reminder
• 0:01:10 – Defense Acquisition Review & the F-47 greenlight
• 0:02:00 – New cyber rules aim to fix the broken contractor ATO slog
• 0:03:10 – AMC milestone: commercial refueling of a C-17
• 0:04:40 – Nuclear microreactors at Alaska bases = energy gamechanger
• 0:05:40 – B-21 flexes at Edwards, aimed squarely at China’s perception
• 0:07:00 – Missing airman accused of desertion and child abuse materials
• 0:08:30 – China restricts rare earths = Pentagon readiness nightmare
• 0:09:40 – Signal leak fears: compromised comms & OPSEC anxiety
• 0:11:00 – Small Sat Alliance warns Space Force not to over-outsource

📢

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