AI is Entering Defense Workflows. Now the Pentagon Needs a Way to Evaluate It.

This op-ed by Col. Joshua Glonek argues that the Defense Department should treat AI adoption like mentoring a new officer: never trusting it with high-stakes decisions until its performance has been observed and tested. He calls for a secure "visual workbench" where analysts can watch AI systems work step-by-step, compare outputs across multiple models on the same data, and continuously retest as models and conditions evolve. The piece makes the case that this kind of ongoing, transparent evaluation, not one-time certification, is what builds justified trust in AI for real operational use.