The Durf

Whenever I have a thought too long for a Facebook status update, they become a blog post

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How to make Partner at a consulting firm

How to make Partner at a consulting firm

I answered a question about what it takes to make partner on quora. I figured I would expound on it a bit here. Take it with a grain of salt – I’m not a partner nor will I be one for more than a few years…

There are 2 big ways to to make partner at a major consulting firm: rise through the ranks, or be awesome somewhere else and join the firm later.

Rise through the ranks

Rising through…

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Trip to New England

Trip to New England

Just 4 months into her life as The Cutest Baby in the World, Clara came with us on a road trip through New England. She happily traveled with us to Newport, Rhode Island; Bar Harbor, Maine; and Boston, Massachusetts.

Day 1 Ballroom at The Breakers

We started our journey with a 7 hour drive from Washington DC to Newport, Rhode Island. Clara did really well, seeming to be quite content to…

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Modern NATO aligned fighter jets primer

Modern NATO aligned fighter jets primer

You’ve seen my post about modern U.S. fighter jets. Now you can get the scoop on other friendly fighters. First, the stats:

Note: several NATO-aligned countries fly Russian-made fighters, but we’re going to ignore those; Russia will get its own post someday. The “NATO users” row doesn’t necessarily include all NATO users, but covers the most major ones The details

McDonnell Douglas F-4C…

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Time to reorganize the U.S. military

Time to reorganize the U.S. military

Our Military Today comes from Yesterday

As I covered in my last post, not a lot has changed in our military structure since President Truman signed into law the National Security Act of 1947.This organization divides our expertise and military doctrine around the three primary domains of operation: Land, Sea, and Air. Everything from training, to procurement, strategic thinking, knowledge…

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Current military reorganization primer

Current military reorganization primer

Gaius Marius reorganized the Roman military in a way that made the soldiers more dependent on their generals than on their civilian leadership. Then, the Roman Republic fell into tyranny.

OK, so there’s more to the story, but nonetheless, how a nation organizes its military can have a huge impact on that nation’s security, prosperity, and liberty. The U.S. military recently started the process…

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Modern U.S. fighter jet primer

Modern U.S. fighter jet primer

Is there a difference between all the different fighter jets you hear about? Does the Army or Navy fly fighter jets, or is it just the Air Force? How many different fighter jets does the U.S. fly right now? Finally, you can have your life’s most important questions answered on a single page!

Let’s dive right in to our primer on modern US Fighter jets!

The Stats

I’ll comment on the planes in…

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Primer on radar "stealth"

Primer on radar “stealth”

In December 2016, Trump started agitating for the possibility of getting upgraded F/A-18 Super Hornets instead of fulfilling a contract for F-35 Lightning II’s. The F-35 program had long been beset by cost overruns and delays (see my post on “Current Controversies“) and Trump wanted to find a better deal.

Super Hornets might perform well enough for “80%” of what the U.S. needs. They’re…

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Current military aircraft controversies

Current military aircraft controversies

The military trains for combat, but can it handle the scrutiny of the public?

Recent changes in military aircraft have battle-hardened the armed forces to public scrutiny. We got up-to-speed on the basics of military aircraft last week. Here, we’ll dive into the basics on some of the current aircraft controversies.

A-10: To retire, or not to retire

The A-10 Warthog fleet has accumulated a…

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Primer on modern military aircraft

Primer on modern military aircraft

It’s an exciting time for military aircraft. Critics and congress have been battling head-to-head with top Air Force and Navy brass over some of the most technologically advanced aircraft ever created. Long before first contact with the enemy, the military has had to defend its new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and develop fiscal fortifications for its B-21 stealth bomber. Even the battle tested…

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Scalia, the GOP, and Obama - the world we've created

Scalia, the GOP, and Obama – the world we’ve created

Scalia’s death

Justice Scalia was a solid advocate of originalism in constitutional interpretation (see my post here for what that means). This often put him on the conservative side of things, and in favor with the GOP. After Scalia’s death, and with Obama still in the white house, the GOP quickly declared their intent to stonewall any nomination for a replacement for Scalia from Obama in…

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Out of alignment: U.S. vision and strategy

Out of alignment: U.S. vision and strategy

This post builds off of my previous posts about the concept of a “Conflict of Visions” written by Thomas Sowell. See the brief summary here or the in-depth explanation here. It also builds on my explanation of the concept of “Rugged Landscapes,” found here.

The framers of the Constitution of the United States of America built a government that worked with a particular vision. Over time, U.S.…

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Three ways Politifact can be Politifalse

Three ways Politifact can be Politifalse

I love the idea of organizations like Politifact. These organizations fact-check the statements of politicians and other entities to explain the truth or fiction behind their claims. I think that people make better decisions when they’re better informed, and having a convenient way to cut through the fog of lies and misstatements can add some grease to a healthy democratic process.

Unfortun…

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Why we need originalism in the courts

Why we need originalism in the courts

Are you a legal professional, law student, or well-informed citizen on the subject of judicial decision making? Well you might be a bit bored with this post, but I would love your feedback, criticism, or comments.

Are you an average citizen who doesn’t know what I mean by “Originalism?” Read on! This post is for you!

What Is Originalism?

Originalism is a theory of judicial interpretation…

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Social impact in consulting

Social impact in consulting

Consulting attracts a dynamic and interesting group of people. Many of us want meaningful work, but want to contribute to society as well. As a result, consulting firms often participate in social impact in a big way. I don’t know what other firms do, but today I’ll share some ways you can participate in social impact at BCG. I’m sure the other firms have similar programs, and this will help give…

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You didn't get the job! Now what?

You didn’t get the job! Now what?

You put in the hours, gained the experience, practiced the cases, and still didn’t get the offer. Maybe you tripped-up on your final round (been there); maybe you didn’t even get invited to interview (been there too). Now you need to execute your plan B, or perhaps figure out what that plan B should be! If you still want to take that shot at consulting, here are my tips.

You may still have a…

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You got the job! Now what?

You got the job! Now what?

The recruiting process for consulting jobs takes so much effort that receiving an offer feels like a finish line. You no longer need to practice cases. You can slow down on the networking. Heck, you can even cancel your other interviews.

However, after a few weeks of relaxing bliss, you might start to wonder what comes next. After all, you want to hit the ground running when you start your new…

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Specializiation in consulting

Consulting hopefuls often ask me about specialization. Some ask in hopes of locking themselves to a topic they feel passionate about. Others want to make sure they won’t get stuck in something they don’t like.

Different firms take different approaches to specialization. Before selecting what firms to apply to, you should find out how they think about specialties in new hires.

What specialties…

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