{"id":27456,"date":"2019-01-28T10:00:59","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T10:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:11:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:11:40","slug":"cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural divide: Can the Pentagon crack Silicon Valley?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/atype-video-jwplayer>
It is safe to say that the Pentagon and Silicon Valley are very different places. But that gap could potentially harm U.S. national security. Jeff Martin takes an in-depth look at the problem \u2013 and how to fix it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. \u2014 Last April, more than 3,000 Google employees took the extraordinary step of issuing an open letter to company leadership, demanding that the tech giant cease working on the Pentagon\u2019s Project Maven<\/a> machine-learning program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision by company leadership to bow to the demand sent shock waves through the national security community, which reacted with a mix of betrayal, frustration and bewilderment that Google, in the midst of developing a special firewall-bolstered internet for China, would refuse to help defend its home country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many ways, the Maven incident seemed to prove the Washington establishment\u2019s belief that the tech community will never want to work<\/a> with the Pentagon, despite the teaming and advocacy that has occurred in recent years; the cultural divide is simply too big to be crossed, the argument goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is that the case? Despite the high-profile nature of Maven, other major tech companies such as Amazon, IBM, Oracle and Microsoft continue to fight<\/a> for Pentagon contracts. The department\u2019s Defense Innovation Board has major names from that community reporting directly to the secretary of defense. And smaller firms are interacting with the department at increased levels, thanks to outreach efforts from the Department of Defense itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November, Defense News convened a roundtable with representatives from the department and the tech community to identify whether the cultural divide can be overcome, or if the barriers are simply too high on both sides. The conclusion: The situation is far from helpless, if the Pentagon is willing to engage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not our perspective that we\u2019re going to change people\u2019s minds who might be firmly against helping the military, but they should at least understand what are the consequences there,\u201d said Michael Brown, a former CEO of Symantec who in September took over the Pentagon\u2019s Defense Innovation Unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEngaging in a discussion \u2014 that\u2019s the American way. We have the freedom to believe whatever we believe in and to express it. But let\u2019s make sure the point of view of the military, national security, is at least represented in the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The perception problem<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unsurprisingly, the Maven case frequently came up during the discussion. Panelists largely agreed there is a perception problem about DoD in Silicon Valley, but disagreed on how to tackle it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trae Stephens, a co-founder at Anduril Industries<\/a> and at principal at venture capital firm Founders Fund, describes Silicon Valley\u2019s response to the Pentagon as a bell curve. On one end, a small group that promises to never do business with the department; on the other, a small group actively seeks to engage with the military on programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in the middle, there is a \u201chuge group\u201d for whom \u201csemantics matter a lot.\u201d The DoD has made it difficult to reach that group because the department doesn\u2019t understand how to approach them, Stephens said. As an example, he pointed to the Pentagon\u2019s emphasis, particularly under now-departed Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, on the word \u201clethality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe just can\u2019t use this word. You\u2019re not going to win being like: \u2018Our priority is soldier lethality.\u2019 That bell curve is going to get destroyed,\u201d Stephens said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The decision by Google leadership\nto bow to the demands of employees\nand cease work on a Pentagon machine-\nlearning program shocked many. (SpVVK\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He also pointed to a targeting software program used by both the departments of Defense and Homeland Security. The Pentagon calls it ATAK, or the Android Tactical Assault Kit, while DHS calls it ATAP, the Android Team Awareness Kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuddenly it\u2019s not a problem. Everyone\u2019s happy to integrate with the \u2018team awareness kit,\u2019 \u201d Stephens said. \u201cThere\u2019s this slight conflict of semantic culture. It\u2019s just kind of silly, and we should like stop making unforced errors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sentiment was largely agreed upon within the room. However, Josh Marcuse, the executive director of the Pentagon\u2019s Defense Innovation Board, warned against thinking of the issue as simply a public relations problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe folks I\u2019ve talked to you [about] that are engineers that are up in arms about this [are the] smartest people in America \u2014 they can see right through these things, and they\u2019re very concerned that will be disingenuous. And then we\u2019ll say this is for humanitarian assistance, but we\u2019re really using it for violating privacy or targeting, and they know how these technologies evolve,\u201d Marcuse said, which prompted a comparison between PR and clear communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siobhan McFeeney, vice president for transformation at technology firm Pivotal, provided an example of how tech leadership can communicate to its staff the benefits of working on a project with the DoD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same divides in Google exist in Pivotal, particularly as the latter started picking up defense projects fairly recently. That has led to the rise of an internal plan on handling individual employees who have moral compunctions against working on military programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every week, Pivotal\u2019s CEO sits down with anyone who has concerns about a program and lays out the reason the company is involved. But unlike the Maven situation, where Google\u2019s leadership gave into the demands of the workforce, Pivotal\u2019s leadership makes the case for why the company is working on a project and then offers to move the employee to a nonmilitary program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a 3,000-person company. We have the luxury, but what I think it demonstrates is just unbelievable empathy for both the customer that we\u2019re trying to solve for \u2014 so, for the war fighter, for their airmen \u2014 and also for these employees who\u2019ve never seen this [kind of mission] before,\u201d McFeeney said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That approach helps bridge the cultural divide and avoid meltdowns like the Maven affair, but it also comes with a side benefit: Those who choose to work on defense-related programs are enthused about that work and \u201csingularly love\u201d the military client and the mission, according to McFeeney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s education, its patience, so it\u2019s just taking the actual time to sit down\u201d and talk, she added. \u201cIt isn\u2019t \u2018everyone gets their way and everyone gets a medal.\u2019 It\u2019s \u2018everyone gets heard and we have a mission for the company,\u2019 but [workers] still have a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communicating about America<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many in Washington, it is self-evident, if not obligatory, that the tech community should want to help America\u2019s military. After all, those private company employees live in the U.S., and the Cold War provides precedent for industry working with the government for the national interest, so the argument goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of the national security community, that same thinking isn\u2019t as locked in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter: patriotism \u2014 identified in some form by almost all the roundtable participants as a cultural barrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tech community has thrived in the last 20 years partly thanks to immigrants. Go to Silicon Valley, said Lisa Hill, Arceo\u2019s chief of operations, and \u201cthere\u2019s every kind of people and language, and I think the message of \u2018Come work for America to beat China or Russia,\u2019 it\u2019s not going to resonate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And unlike the Soviet Union, where its relationship with the U.S. was almost entirely antagonistic, China is a major trading partner, whose items can be found on every shelf in Walmart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawk Carlisle, the head of the National Defense Industrial Association and a retired Air Force general, spent 2012-2014 leading the service\u2019s efforts in the Pacific. It was there he got a close-up look at the Sino-U.S. relationship, where one day he would be discussing how to defend Taiwan \u2014 viewed by China as a rogue province \u2014 and the next helping to ferry trade officials to negotiate new deals with Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recommends the message be less one of the U.S. versus other countries, and instead focus more on the need to defend the democratic world order that has benefited not just the U.S. and its allies, but Western industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are the good guys,\u201d he said. \u201cFrankly, whether anybody accepts it or not, China would like the world order and the rules of the world to change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That kind of messaging \u2014 which the panelists agreed must be buttressed by public events and frequent outreach to the community, including vocal minorities who want nothing to do with the DoD \u2014 could be the best chance the Pentagon has to reach that undecided middle of Stephens\u2019 bell curve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that outreach component is ultimately where the department needs to step up. Brown, the Defense Innovation Unit head, has pledged to use his contacts<\/a> to host events at universities and dinners with small groups from the community to explain the Pentagon\u2019s goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The cultural divide between the East and West coasts is perhaps too big to be crossed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":25657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[108,160,12,36,19,30],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3378],"class_list":["post-27456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultural-clash","category-daily-news-roundup","category-industry","category-newsletters","category-pentagon","category-smr"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"33STELTWR5B6PADK6MMSSBHBOU","arc_canonical_url":"\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nCultural divide: Can the Pentagon crack Silicon Valley? - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The cultural divide between the East and West coasts is perhaps too big to be crossed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cultural divide: Can the Pentagon crack Silicon Valley?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The cultural divide between the East and West coasts is perhaps too big to be crossed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-28T10:00:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T22:11:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aaron Mehta\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Aaron Mehta\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/#article\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"author\": {\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t },\n\t \"headline\": \"Cultural divide: Can the Pentagon crack Silicon Valley?\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2019-01-28T10:00:59+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T22:11:40+00:00\",\n\t \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"wordCount\": 1452,\n\t \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-137775852.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"articleSection\": [\n\t \"Cultural Clash\",\n\t \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t \"Industry\",\n\t \"Newsletters\",\n\t \"Pentagon\",\n\t \"Special Multimedia Reports\"\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/#respond\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Cultural divide: Can the Pentagon crack Silicon Valley? - Defense News\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-137775852.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2019-01-28T10:00:59+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T22:11:40+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"The cultural divide between the East and West coasts is perhaps too big to be crossed.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-137775852.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-137775852.jpg.jpg\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/28\\\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"Pentagon\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"pentagon\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"Cultural divide: Can the Pentagon crack Silicon Valley?\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"logo\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t },\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cultural divide: Can the Pentagon crack Silicon Valley? - Defense News","description":"The cultural divide between the East and West coasts is perhaps too big to be crossed.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cultural divide: Can the Pentagon crack Silicon Valley?","og_description":"The cultural divide between the East and West coasts is perhaps too big to be crossed.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2019-01-28T10:00:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T22:11:40+00:00","author":"Aaron Mehta","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Aaron Mehta","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Cultural divide: Can the Pentagon crack Silicon Valley?","datePublished":"2019-01-28T10:00:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T22:11:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/"},"wordCount":1452,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-137775852.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Cultural Clash","Daily News Roundup","Industry","Newsletters","Pentagon","Special Multimedia Reports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/","name":"Cultural divide: Can the Pentagon crack Silicon Valley? - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-137775852.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2019-01-28T10:00:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T22:11:40+00:00","description":"The cultural divide between the East and West coasts is perhaps too big to be crossed.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-137775852.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-137775852.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/01\/28\/cultural-divide-can-the-pentagon-crack-silicon-valley\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pentagon","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/","ad_zone":"pentagon"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Cultural divide: Can the Pentagon crack Silicon Valley?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-137775852.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27456"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27458,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27456\/revisions\/27458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27456"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=27456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}