(He also worked on the TEAL AMBER and TEAL BLUE satellite surveillance systems, and probably others that he never even talked about.)
Some congressmen had not heard of this technology and were working to fund a completely different (iirc, civilian) program intending to develop essentially the same capabilities. They had to go give a few TS briefings to the congressmen to dissuade them from writing the redundant funding into the next defense spending bill.
Having gone to school in LA where, at the time, ALL of the EE jobs were in the Defense sector, I specifically moved up to the Bay Area to work on cool stuff I could actually talk about with others[1].
One thing of note is that ageism is MUCH less of an issue in jobs that require security clearances. So a number of engineers who are suddenly perceived as "too old" to contribute to the latest hot startup find themselves recruited by the Raytheons and General Dynamics type companies that recognize their skills are valuable.
[1] As an new college grad [NCG] I was not yet aware of the myriad ways in which employers would use non-disclosure agreements to thwart such conversations.
it's sad to me that most SV focus now is about how to sell more stuff to people whether that's through direct advertising or creating "social" platforms where people get to "influence" you into buying something or paying for something