Among other changes, a newly created undersecretary of defense for acquisition would become the “weapons czar,” while the director of defense research and engineering was downgraded to a second-tier job. Donald Hicks, who held the position at the time, resigned in protest. The change was not cosmetic; it meant DARPA reported to a lower level of the Pentagon. Herzfeld was supposed to be DARPA’s direct link to the Defense Department’s leadership, but he found himself frozen out of major decisions and with no access to the defense secretary. “Did you hear Craig got fired?” Herzfeld’s military
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