The U.S. Department of Defense is spending billions on communication technology, but when it counted most, senior leaders turned to Signal.

That’s the core of Zac Staples’ latest piece for the Federal News Network, and it’s an indication of a larger issue: DoD’s digital infrastructure isn’t meeting mission needs.

In high-pressure moments this spring, top officials used Signal — a commercial app — not because it was official, but because it worked. It was secure, fast, reliable, and familiar. And it filled a gap created by the lack of purpose-built tools.

In this article, Zac outlines what this moment reveals about the state of digital readiness inside the Pentagon:

> Workarounds are a symptom of systemic failure. People use what works. If warfighters and leaders default to unofficial tools, it’s because official ones don’t match operational realities.

> User-centered design isn’t optional. The Defense Innovation Board laid this out clearly in 2018: talk to your users, deploy the simplest useful functionality, and iterate fast. We’re still not doing it.

> This is a problem of execution, not awareness. DoD has the budget, the talent, and the guidance. What’s missing is a commitment to build digital tools in partnership with the users who need them.

At Fathom5, we believe tactical edge defense technology must work for the people operating at the tactical edge. This article is a timely reminder of why user needs must drive defense innovation. And what’s at stake when they don’t.

Read the full piece here:

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2025/07/what-signal-reveals-about-the-defense-digital-gap/

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