A first look at GenAI.mil: Evolving a secure platform into a warfighting edge
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Marine Corps, the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
Sean Rugge is a Senior Educational Technologist and eLearning Strategist for the U.S. Marine Corps, where he oversees a learning management system for over 250,000 Marines and is leading the service’s efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into its educational platforms. Dr. Silas Schaeffer, a contractor for the U.S. Marine Corps, holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction. He specializes in developing training materials and helps manage the learning architecture for a quarter of a million Marines.
What if the Department of War had a tool that could draft a battle plan, analyze intelligence reports, and generate mission briefings in seconds? While that future isn’t here yet, the department has taken a significant first step with the recent launch of GenAI.mil. Drawing on our combined experience in supporting military training and education, we assessed this new, department-wide artificial intelligence platform as a welcome and necessary move. However, while GenAI.mil provides a crucial and secure foundation, its current limitations prevent it from being the truly transformative tool it needs to become. To make it a genuine force multiplier, the department must rapidly iterate on its design, focusing on the features that directly impact operational tempo and decision-making, while remembering that any AI is only as good as the human guiding it.
Secure, but is it effective?
The platform’s greatest strength is its security. Launched on Dec. 9, 2025, GenAI.mil is authorized to handle controlled unclassified information. This allows personnel to finally use generative AI for official work without risking data spillage — a critical advantage over commercial tools. This secure foundation is the price of admission for any serious enterprise tool, but security alone does not make a tool effective for the modern warfighter.
Success with an asterisk
Initial tests show the platform performs well on a variety of tasks. It successfully analyzes different file types, including PDF documents, spreadsheets, and images. In one test, the platform took a PDF document and quickly converted it into a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, demonstrating its utility for rapidly generating new content. It was able to take a sanitized activity report and accurately visualize performance data for different ranks, demonstrating a clear utility for staff work. These successes, however, come with an asterisk. They represent basic, table-stakes capabilities that are executed in a way that feels a few steps behind current commercial offerings.
An unfinished product
The platform, in its current state, feels like an unfinished product. Its workflow creates friction that would be unacceptable in an operational environment. For example, the system lacks persistent file management, forcing an analyst to re-upload intelligence reports for every new query. In a developing situation where seconds matter, this clunky workflow is not just an inconvenience; it is a direct impediment to rapid analysis. The inability to generate new images from text prompts means a pre-mission briefer cannot quickly create an illustrative graphic of a target area, forcing them back to slower, legacy methods. Most significantly, the absence of an application programming interface (API) means GenAI.mil cannot currently be integrated with other essential digital tools like mission planning software or logistics trackers, keeping its powerful analytical engine siloed from the very ecosystem where it is most needed.
Forging a true force multiplier
GenAI.mil is a welcome and necessary addition to the Department of War’s toolkit, but a secure foundation is not a substitute for strategic utility. To close the gap with commercial tools and deliver a real advantage to the warfighter, the department must move aggressively. The immediate priorities should not just be new features, but a new philosophy centered on operational impact. This means implementing collaborative features that allow a dispersed team to work on the same problem, developing a persistent file management system that supports a high-tempo workflow, and providing an API to connect GenAI.mil to other critical systems. As it stands, GenAI.mil is a promising start, but it has the potential to become a critical force multiplier only if its development is guided by the urgent needs of its users and a clear vision for its operational role.
