Because your contract and your credibility depend on it.

At CEIC West 2025, one of the clearest red flags raised during the False Starts session was this:

“You can’t buy maturity off the shelf. You have to build it—evidence by evidence.”

If you’re in aerospace or defense manufacturing, you’ve probably downloaded a few policy templates by now. Maybe from a consultant, maybe from some random website. Maybe they’re in a binder with “CMMC” labeled on the spine.

But here’s the problem: templates aren’t proof.

 

The False Sense of Security

Templates look good. They feel like progress. But when the assessor walks in the door, they don’t care how pretty your documentation is.

They’re going to ask:

  • “Where’s the evidence that this policy is being followed?”
  • “Who’s responsible for this control?”
  • “Can your team walk me through how this works?”

And if the answer is, “Well, we downloaded that from…” you’ve already lost credibility.

 

Real Compliance Requires Real Alignment

In aerospace and defense, we’re not dealing with generic risks. We’re securing controlled technical information, export-controlled data, and mission-critical components.

If your policies don’t match how your team actually operates, from IT to the shop floor, you're exposed.

What assessors want to see:

  •  Policies written in the context of your systems and workflows
  • Procedures that match your actual configurations and access controls
  •  Logs and records that prove the policy is alive, not archived
  •  Team members who understand their role and can explain it

 

What To Do Instead

Start with reality.
Build your policies around your systems, not someone else’s checklist.

Walk a control from template to truth.
This week, pick one control and ask:

  • What does the policy say?
  • What do we actually do?
  • Can we prove it?
  • Who owns it?

Fix the gaps before they become failures.
Revise the policy, align the process, and assign ownership.

 

Why This Matters Now

If you’re waiting on a CMMC assessment, or even just hoping to stay eligible for DoD contracts—this isn’t a paperwork game. It’s a credibility game.

Assessors can see right through templates. They want substance.

And if your cybersecurity maturity is built on borrowed language instead of real controls, it won’t hold.

 

Action Step:
Pick one policy this week and validate it all the way through—policy → process → proof → people.