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NSA's Top Talent is Leaving Because of Low Pay, Slumping Morale and Unpopular Reorganization (washingtonpost.com)
Ellen Nakashima and Aaron Gregg, reporting for the Washington Post: The National Security Agency is losing its top talent at a worrisome rate as highly skilled personnel, some disillusioned with the spy service's leadership and an unpopular reorganization, take higher-paying, more flexible jobs in the private sector (Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source). Since 2015, the NSA has lost several hundred hackers, engineers and data scientists, according to current and former U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. The potential impact on national security is significant, they said. Headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland, the NSA employs a civilian workforce of about 21,000 there and is the largest producer of intelligence among the nation's 17 spy agencies. The people who have left were responsible for collecting and analyzing the intelligence that goes into the president's daily briefing. Their work also included monitoring a broad array of subjects including the Islamic State, Russian and North Korean hackers, and analyzing the intentions of foreign governments, and they were responsible for protecting the classified networks that carry such sensitive information.
Old Joke:
"But Timmy, why did you say your dad is working as a male stripper?"
"Because it's less embarrassing than admitting he's working at the NSA".
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
But when you meet someone who obviously has a brain and would have been successful even if they hadn't chosen to be a high-ranking officer, you have to wonder what their motivation is. I've never really got to the bottom of it because those people I've met like that are quite cagey and tend to hide behind some argument about "service to the country" and so on.
That's a bit cynical and possibly says much about you. Certainly you cannot totally disbelieve that there are people who truly are motivated by a moral imperative to serve their country. I understand that you may not agree with their motivations, but why can't you at least believe their stated reason?
One apropos example that has served as a sort of personal inspiration for my whole life is the case of the father of a friend of mine. The man was a successful surgeon, and an immigrant to the US. When I was in high school he resigned from private practice and joined the military as a surgeon with the stated purpose that he wanted to give back to the country that he was so proud to have joined. I'd hate to be the type of person who suspected some ulterior motive there.
A word of advice for you, since you say you've "never really gotten to the bottom of it" when trying to understand these people: Maybe you should try listening to and accepting what they say are their reasons instead of assuming they are some cagey deceivers.
I expect in the next year to see higher turnover at the FBI to
Here's the best part. The more the con artist keeps whining about the FBI doing its job, the more people leave and the more he can whine about them not doing their job.
The same with the NSA. This is one of many organizations he has called part of the "deep state", that the information they provide is worthless, they don't know what they're doing and so on.
Well golly gee, who wants to work for someone who is an incompetent idiot, a serial liar and thinks what you do is worthless?
What's that old adage about high turnover of employees? It's not them, it's you.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
"moral" or "morale"?
When you meet a guy who goes into the army because he failed school, sure, that's a good option for him... job security, a decent amount of respect and professionalism, transferable skills. It makes sense. But when you meet someone who obviously has a brain and would have been successful even if they hadn't chosen to be a high-ranking officer, you have to wonder what their motivation is. I've never really got to the bottom of it because those people I've met like that are quite cagey and tend to hide behind some argument about "service to the country" and so on.
You are the people fake news is written for. There is a world of information available to you, but you only want to hear what is slanted for you. I'll give it a shot since you haven't gotten to the bottom of it - the words will be wasted, but you've provoked my moral outrage.
I enlisted in the US Army in 1998; among different scholarships I had a full four-year scholarship to Michigan State. I opted to join the army instead. I enlisted for the maximum enlistment (six years) because of my intent to make a lifetime in service to trying to make the world a better place - to do my part to see that kids didn't grow up like I did. I joined the infantry - 11B. My ASVAB scores were phenomenal - I could have done anything.
I didn't join for guns, or for a uniform, or for failing school - I joined because I wanted to help - to be a part of something with a noble cause - protecting America, bringing peace to war torn parts of the world. Patriotism is a real thing. Young men committed suicide when they were denied entry to service during World War 2. This country's administration, its choices, and treatment of its citizens might not be worthy of such loyalty, but infantrymen enforce the last 300 meters of foreign policy; they don't make it.
Two years into my enlistment, I was much...much more worldly. I was regretting having turned down college because I'd met so many retired infantry NCOs serving food in mess halls and defacs with the same story: "I've been infantry for 30 years, retired, and I don't have any useful life skills in the civilian world, so now I serve food." That's a terrifying future for a 20 year old. In theory, the military pays for 75% of the schooling costs for classes you take in service, but trying to go to college while being a soldier isn't very plausible. At least for an infantryman.
Three of the officers in my company were West Point graduates (USMA). I was young, impressionable, and that's what I wanted to look like when I grew up. Officers could do more; help more - I wanted that. I wrote a letter to my senator, my congressman, the President - I went up my chain of command and got a letter of recommendation from my battalion commander; paired with the nomination of my Senator (and I had a powerful story to tell about overcoming adversity), I got into West Point.
My army career ended up taking me into the world of Information Assurance - and here I'm going to get hazy - but I helped develop and test zero day exploits, develop cyber policy for the army - did some really interesting things. I still have my "I am the Fed" T-Shirt from one of the DefCons I went to when I got targeted in the "Spot the Fed" game. In the last decade, there's been lots of feds, so I don't know if they even play it anymore.
I have a thousand stories of helping people - because its the right thing to do.
Patriotism is real. It exists for people of all backgrounds and all educations. People make choices beyond their self interest - philanthropy is a word. If you truly discard that story and look for ulterior motive, its because you have self-imposed blinders and earplugs and refuse to hear or see anything you don't already believe - *YOU* have an ulterior motive.
From TFS:
The people who have left were responsible for collecting and analyzing the intelligence that goes into the president's daily briefing.
Daily intelligence briefings for the Chief Executive used to be a vitally important component of policy formulation. Then President Chump was sworn in, and suddenly they became completely irrelevant, because they bored him. He refuses to read or even listen to them, even when they mostly contain brightly-colored graphics, videos, and other visual elements designed to appeal to the functional-illiterate-in-chief. They've also been tailored to avoid topics, such as the latest intelligence on Russian psyops interference in the 2016 election, that push the Orange Oaf's buttons. (Let me point you to an alternative citation, because the Washington Post article may be paywalled for those who don't know how to use private browsing and cookie deletion to get around it.)
Think about how you'd feel if you had dedicated your career to producing detailed, highly-nuanced, daily reports on a whole range of intelligence topics for the most powerful national leader on the planet - only to discover that the new guy is completely uninterested in any information that can't be expressed in crayon drawings and bumper sticker catchphrases. Now throw in civil servant wages, and ask yourself whether that job would be in any way attractive to you?
Yeah - it's like that.
That's why they're leaving ...
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