Op-Ed Archives

A Soldier takes a cell phone picture as Lt. Col Astrid Ruiz-Fernandez, the exiting commander of the 205th Theater Public Affairs Support Element, speaks to the 205th TPASE for the last time as the commanding officer during a change of command ceremony June 7, 2025 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, TX. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Staff Sgt. Blake A. Essex)

We know how to protect our troops from telecom attacks. We’re just not doing it.

The carriers won't act without pressure. Congress and the Pentagon need to force their hand now.

5 days ago By John Doyle

A sign for the National Security Agency (NSA), US Cyber Command and Central Security Service, is seen near the visitor’s entrance to the headquarters of the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort Meade, Maryland, February 14, 2018. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

The Pentagon’s cyber reform effort stumbles out the gate

After trusting the military to fix its own problems with unsatisfactory results, it is time for President Trump and the Congress to seize the reins and establish…

May 18, 2026 By Joshua Stiefel

A map shows the Strait of Hormuz on a laptop computer screen in this photo illustration in Athens, Greece, on March 3, 2026. (Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Hormuz and the defense posture we don’t have

What is unfolding now is an inconvenient truth.

May 15, 2026 By Rear Adm. (Ret.) Milton "Jamie" Sands III

U.S. Marines compete in wargaming during Modern Day Marine 2026 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C., April 30, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Matthew A. McDonnell)

The future of war arrived. We aren’t ready.

Every operational plan in every military headquarters in the world is now obsolete. The hedge strategists said this day would come. It has arrived. The question is…

May 11, 2026 By Rear Adm. (Ret.) Lorin Selby

Improved but incomplete: GenAI.mil and the last-mile problem

GenAI.mil successfully does the heavy lifting of processing data securely, but its execution at the user level often requires clunky workarounds that slow its users down.

Apr 30, 2026 By Silas Schaeffer

An aerial view of the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., May 15, 2023. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. John Wright)

What happens inside the Pentagon is special. How it gets done is not.

Productivity in the Pentagon is beginning to resemble the outside world.

Apr 15, 2026 By Chris Beauregard

A policy gap is threatening the Pentagon’s AI innovation pipeline

The stakes are especially high because the future of U.S. military capability will depend heavily on technologies developed outside the traditional defense industry.

Mar 26, 2026 By Morgan Plummer

80% readiness requires 21st-century tools

Modern technologies, such as robotics, advanced sensors, and data-driven analysis, fundamentally change how quickly and accurately we can understand the health of ships.

Mar 17, 2026 By Justin Gray, Retired Command Master Chief at NAVSEA

KITTERY, Maine (June 17, 2024) Alex Blanchard, a Welder, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine welds a bracket to be used on a new brow. (U.S. Navy photo by Branden J. Bourque/Released)

Military power begins with industrial strength

The defense supply chain today faces several structural pressures which make it difficult to meet operational demands. These must be addressed as part of any Department of…

Feb 18, 2026 By Vice Adm. Lou Crenshaw (Ret.)

Secretary of the Army, Honorable Daniel P. Driscoll, receives a hands-on walkthrough of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense launcher from Soldiers assigned to Alpha Battery, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment at Fort Bliss, Texas, March 26, 2025. The briefing included launcher components, critical safety features, and maintenance responsibilities required to sustain air and missile defense readiness. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. JaDarius Duncan)

Making the wrong things go faster at the Department of War

In this exclusive Op-Ed, legendary defense innovation expert and academic Steve Blank explains why the new Warfighting Acquisition System is at risk of making the wrong things…

Jan 30, 2026 By Steve Blank