Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced six major defense initiatives that, if properly executed, could transform how the Department predicts and reacts to future battlefields. The first two are the most relevant. The first is creation of a new four star Autonomous Warfare Command, which will build on and exploit Project Agincourt, assisted by the Defense Innovative Unit that will “overhaul the way the U.S. military buys, tests and uses drones and other cutting-edge weapons.”

The second, known as "Project Meridian," which may prove to be the more imaginative. In Meridian, he has tasked billionaires Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) to “study the battlefields of the future, identify which weapons and technologies warfighters will need to harness to dominate in these environments, and propose actionable solutions to start developing, testing and fielding these capabilities no later than Jan. 28, or 120 days from now.”

Musk, with his hugely successful Starlink and Tesla companies, is the best known and is perhaps the 21st century combination of a Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller. But Musk will be greatly handicapped by his role in heading the Department of Government Efficiency — that failed enterprise aimed at cutting government waste — given the powerful negative reactions it provoked from within the Pentagon. Luckey, inventor of the Oculus visual reality headset, started Anduril in 2017.

Anduril is a leading edge technology company focused on autonomous drones and sensors it is providing for the Department of Defense that are being used operationally in the war against Iran. Anduril just received a $20 billion non-compete contract with the Army. Gingrich, elected to the House in 1978 and armed with a Ph.D. in European history, was well known for his efforts in leading military reform long before he became Speaker in 1995. In 1981, Gingrich co-founded the Caucuses on Military Reform and Space.

His idea was to debate concepts and strategy rather than budget line items. Always controversial for his military deferments during the Vietnam War and for marrying his former high school teacher, Gingrich was a major force in bringing Republicans back to power. Although this combination of minds is formidable on paper, none has been to war or commanded troops in action. It is therefore unclear that what Meridian will achieve that is feasible, technically possible and affordable.

Indeed, some might argue that a Hollywood studio might be as creative. But, Hegseth has certainly generated interest. So what might be done to ensure Meridian succeeds? As Gingrich knows, history offers a solution. When Dwight Eisenhower assumed the presidency in January 1953, he commissioned Project Solarium, an effort to determine national security strategy for dealing with the Soviet Union. Three separate task forces were empowered, each with a different set of assumptions.

Hegseth should consider emulating this multi-task force organization. Two additional groups should be established. One would consist of our most experienced past senior officers. The other would be formed under the vice chairman of the joint chiefs, with the four star geographic and functional combatant commanders. Nominees for that second group should include former chairmen of the joint chiefs (as well as former service heads) Admiral Mike Mullen and Marine General Joseph Dunford; Army General David Petraeus, with extraordinary experience in Afghanistan and Iraq; Air Force General Philip Breedlove, former supreme allied commander Europe; and Air Force General John Hyten, former commander strategic command and vice chairman, with an extensive background in space. All three groups would initially operate independently.

In emulating Ike’s Solarium, Hegseth would bring together the best of the best regarding innovation, strategic thinking and current relevance, based on what the combatant commanders are doing today and in contemplating the future. Some will be concerned that the Musk-Luckey-Gingrich team will produce ideas so over-the-top as to be unserious. Some may think that retired flag officers may be insufficiently informed to invalidate their findings. And still others might assume that combatant commanders are too wedded to the present — that considering the future is beyond their charter.

These doubters are wrong. Solarium as a model is perfect if we are to devise what national security needs. But will Hegseth agree? Harlan Ullman is chairman of a private company, and principal author of the doctrine of shock and awe. His next book, co-written with Field Marshal The Lord David Richards, former U.K. chief of defense and due out this Fall, is "Who Thinks Best Wins: How Decisive Strategic Thinking Will Prevent Global Chaos."