TAMPA — Like the rest of the world, U.S. Central Command was never the same after a shadowy jihadi group called al-Qaida turned airliners into deadly missiles the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

But CentCom has emerged as the focal point for the nation's response to the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, growing and changing like no other U.S. military headquarters as the battle against jihadis spread from Afghanistan to Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Egypt and others in the 20-nation CentCom region.

If you want to understand just how special the U.S.-Israel relationship really is, look no further than the annual aid package. Israel is not only the greatest beneficiary of U.S. defense assistance, but also the only one allowed to spend a portion of that assistance on weapons and equipment from its own industry. Everyone else has to buy American.

Mary Beth Long has spent her entire adult life in male-dominated fields. But few men or women alive today have served, and led, with such distinction. Or achieved such success.

Most military budget reformers focus on the technology and hardware we will need for future conflicts. Few address the military’s most important asset: its people.

Six months ago I published Red Team: How to Succeed by Thinking Like the Enemy, which attempted to capture, describe, and define a relatively under-examined social phenomenon, red teaming. It is a “90-10 issue,” where 90 percent of people will not grasp what you are referring to, but are deeply curious, while 10 percent know what it is, and often have proprietary and closed minded conceptions of what is authentic red teaming. In the half year since the book release, I have given dozens of interviews with a range of outlets, and book talks at corporations, universities, military commands, and nonprofits. I also continued learning from red teamers who, unfortunately, I encountered only after publication. When you write a book about an obscure issue, the feedback that you receive after it is released makes you realize how little you knew as the author.

Just how the most comprehensive reform law covering the federal government’s largest department needs to be overhauled should start with eliminating the unintended duplication that the Goldwater-Nichols Act created 30 years ago. But where other changes should be made is subject to sharp debate on Capitol Hill, inside the Pentagon and at think-tanks all over Washington. 

Former Navy Secretary Sean O’Keefe zeroed in on offices in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the uniformed and civilian sides of the services and the combatant commanders “dedicated to process” as examples of some who need to go. As such, he cited the Quadrennial Defense Review offices in each of the services as “being in business to preserve itself.”

Interested in Intelligence, National Security, Homeland Security or Private Sector Defense Industries? Join the Fletcher Security Review for a discussion with Ms. Carol Haave, former assistant secretary for international affairs at the Department of Homeland Security and former undersecretary of defense for intelligence (counterintelligence and security), and Mary Beth Long, founder and CEO of Metis Solutions and former assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, for a discussion of their work in the security field — both in the public and private sector — as well as the role of women in defense leadership positions.