The Longest Now

I was at Hanscom today, listening to an air force 3-star talk generally to the public about his recent experiences as a key CIA – DOD liaison, and was suddenly reminded of two things: 

1. Almost everyone in our military is doing what they think is most needed in the country (and perhaps the world) right now, and
   
2. Because of the many levels of secrecy our world enjoys, most of the real heroism and success, along with many of the mistakes and failures, of our deepest military and political efforts may well never [ever] be generally known. 

There’s a lovely analogy to be made between open scientific dialogue, open source software, and high-stakes secrecy, but I’m too sun-touched to make it right now.