I recently returned to one of my favorite authors, Annie Jacobsen, the author of best-selling books ‘Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America‘ and ‘Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base‘. The time around she focuses on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (“DARPA”), the brainchild of the Pentagon and its role in national defense. Prior to reading the book, I was aware of DARPA but was curious to learn what Jacobsen had discovered. And what she reports is informative and interesting without any trace of conspiracy theories or secret government plots. Of course, there are materials which are classified by the United States Military for distinct reasons, but the top-secret classification does not always mean nefarious. Jacobsen takes us deep inside DARPA to reveal a part of America’s defense network which has become invaluable.

The book opens by revisiting the Marshall Islands in March 1954 where the United States Government is conducting a secret nuclear detonation code named “Castle Bravo”. This test, which remains a dark moment in nuclear history is the key to understanding how America was preparing its defenses in the wake of both World War II (1939-1945) and the Korean War (1950-1953). I learned details about the test for the first time in this book and what I read left me speechless and sent a chill down my spine. But military leaders were undeterred, and the quest for advanced weaponry continued to escalate. DARPA is still several years away, and before we reach that point, a curious figure named John Von Neumann (1903-1957) enters the story. I admit that I felt a sense of shame as someone who works in information technology because I should have known about Von Neumann, the visionary whose ideas in the 1950s were premonitions of modern-day computer systems. His story and influence in the government are captivating, and one of the crucial parts of the narrative. However, the Department of Defense (“DOD”) was just heating up and in 1957, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (“ARPA”) (renamed DARPA in 1972) was born to the chagrin of military brass, and this where the book shift gears as the agency focuses on projects and ideas straight out of Hollywood.

Though DARPA is connected to the DOD, it is not a “military” agency but was driven by the goals of bolstering national defense and enhancing the performance of military personnel deployed in combat. And as one would expect, it attracted individuals who walked the fine line between genius and insanity. Jacobsen explores their backgrounds and how they ended up at DARPA. Admittedly, some of the ideas proposed by DARPA come off as far outside of the box, but others came to fruition through its efforts. The sections regarding placement of sensors on the Ho Chih Minh Trail and use of toxin Agent Orange during the Vietnam War (1954-1975) are both mind-numbing and shocking, but the creation of ARPANET supported by the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), would change the world as we know it, when a concept called the internet gained traction. Without the protocols, Domain Naming Service (DNS) and other networking components, this blog would not exist.

The book is full of information, and I was pulled in from the beginning. In the wake of World War II, we can see the shift in focus from defeat of the Axis powers to concerns over Soviet expansion and threats unknown at the time. But one section which I found interesting was the discussing regarding Allen M. Dulles, Jr. (1930-2020) and the devastating injuries he suffered in the Korean War. At first it may seem unrelated to the story but as Jacobsen expands on ARPA’s research projects, it becomes clear how Dulles’s plight was a source of intrigue and incentive to further understand the human mind. Further, it sheds light on the traumatic brain injury and how doctors are still confronted with the daunting task of rebuilding a damaged mind.

As the years pass, new wars rise and DARPA is repeatedly tasked with confronting deadly issues such as IEDs and biological weapons. And the agency has success in some areas but failures in others. But what is clear is that DARPA is far more advanced of the public domain and responsible for technological advances we take advantage of daily. However, oversight is always needed and there are parts of DARPA which remain a mystery to the public. Technology can be a blessing and a curse, but we now live in a world where it is required. DARPA will remain in the race to develop innovative technology and secure the republic, but in doing so, the issues of morality and legality will always be front and center. The rise of artificial intelligence has changed the news cycle, and Chat GPT has found a solid footing on society. Dark visions of the fictional Skynet and other computer projects which have gone rogue fill imaginations and highlight the influence of motion pictures. But a question remains, is DARPA close to turning those visions into reality? As of today, man remains in control but is imperative to understand the motives behind the technological advancements propelling the planet forward and their impacts on our lives. Interestingly, DARPA has its own website; a benefit of the very networking concept it created decades prior. Annie Jacobsen nails it once again in a book which thoroughly explains a crucial yet overlooked part of our national defense network. 

“Carl Sagan once stated, “It is suicidal to create a society dependent on science and technology in which hardly anybody knows anything about the science and technology.”

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00RTY0GEA
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company, September 15, 2015