In today’s rapidly evolving battlefields, the Department of Defense (DoD) faces a paradox: It is awash with advanced technologies, yet warfighters often wait months, even years, for approval to use the software they desperately need. Why? The bottleneck often lies in a well-intentioned but outdated process: the Risk Management Framework (RMF) and the painful path to achieving an Authority to Operate (ATO).

The ATO process, designed to safeguard national security systems, is rooted in sound principles. But in practice, it has become a procedural obstacle course—one that sidelines innovative software with lengthy, bureaucratic delays. Having gone through my fair share of ATOs across the Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps, I can attest that this process needs serious reforms. From mission pla

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