Office Life at the Pentagon Is Disconcertingly Retrograde

THERE ARE NO laptops at meetings in the Pentagon. There are no whiteboards, either. No connectivity, and almost no diversity. I love the Navy and Marine Corps, but as a civilian executive, this 1950s environment is what exasperated me most about working there. These problems damage the speed and quality of our military planning and decision­making. If we don’t correct them soon, we will jeopardize our national security.

Take connectivity. Even though my office was in the E-Ring, the cynosure of American military power, I had no Wi-Fi access. To...