Reply From: Matthew Patton <pattonat_private> >[And we won't even mention the little problem of >where DoD expects to produce 300 Ph.D. reservists who specialize in comsec >from overnite.] Totally IMO but the really gifted guys in my experience don't have any sheepskins, ok maybe a bachelors. They wouldn't be caught dead with a PHd let alone having to cross their t's and dot their i's for 6+ years in academy. If the AF wants to help cut some costs and retain what skilled personnel they (accidently) manage to attract, they (military personnel system and management) should stop going out of their way to screw over the airmen and young officers who really have one mission, to do what they know best. Career advancement and all that can get the ol' heave ho. Basically "get out of my way and LET me do my job!" Seemingly the only skill one needs at the Pentagon is kissing ass. [I must have cut that class] Englightened management does have its uses: attending interminable meetings and running interferance when doing things right just so happens to step on somebody's sensitive little toes. It's a scary thought that we've yet to have a pure computer (33Sxc) guy get a star. Damn fighter jocks think they know how to run everything. We all know the "Army crawls on it's belly" to use Nepolean's words. Well, if the USAF thinks they are the answer to the computer driven information battlefield then they damn well aren't going to go any more than their ethernet will let them. That and their ability to do a passable job at information/computer security. I applaud the initiative shown by the guys at Langley in using Linux for their 'net presence. Only problem is, their original configuration was quite vulnerable: to the degree that mass mail programs have it's address hard coded into the list of servers to use. That's why some of use OpenBSD. Sorry for the blatent plug. I'm sure I've stated it before (as have others) but the military's problem isn't really a technical problem, it's a people management problem. To top it off, the "tiger/swat" teams who do know their stuff don't bother to conduct training classes or tell admins whose boxes they have r00ted how to fix their gear. I have a HUGE problem with that. Enough ranting... -------- "You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go around repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in their struggle for independence," - Charles A. Beard (American historian) -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Repent Security Incorporated [www.repsec.com]
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