Twenty-three years ago, I watched the horrors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks unfold, knowing my father was in the Pentagon when it was struck. That day shaped the course of my life. I was determined to join the fight against terrorism and ended up attending the U.S. Military Academy. This decision led to my deployment in Afghanistan, where I was driven by the belief that our efforts abroad were vital to keeping our homeland safe. 

Lamentably, the global war on terrorism has since become synonymous with bureaucratic entanglement, marked by unchecked expansion and an erosion of accountability. Yet the one unifying facet amid all the United States’s failings was a dogged commitment to protecting American soil.