They Laughed When I Walked In. A Marine Colonel Mocked My Rank. He Called Me a "Staff Major" from an "Obscure Command." He Had No Idea I Wasn't There to Take Notes. I Was There to Change the Game. And When the System Collapsed, His Entire Career Was in My Hands. This Is What Really Happened. The room felt like a pressurized clean box. It was the kind of space at the National Defense University that cost more per square foot than a Manhattan penthouse—sterile, secure, and suffocatingly quiet. The