Hey -- I Know That Guy!

I will turn 30 this year. I will probably write a bit about that as the date nears (I've still got a few months with which to cling on the twenties), but you can sort of imagine where I might go with it -- less of a "free pass" for things both good and bad, being taken more seriously, and so on.

But here's another aspect of the milestone that has nothing to do with me, at least directly -- the prominent places in which I'm starting to see peers.

The guy in the video below was recently mentioned by name in a post by Tom Ricks, who writes The Best Defense (which is the best site I know of for great discussions about modern American military culture). The mention of his name led me to a Google search or two, which led me to realize that, wow, he is now in a high-profile role making policy in the Obama Administration.

Just a couple of years ago, he was a Navy Lieutenant assigned as an Intelligence Officer at a SEAL Team based in Coronado, CA (to be clear, that's a support role, he was not a SEAL). However, he was what you'd call a "hot runner" who earned a Bronze Star (Meritorious) and a Combat Action Ribbon during this time.

So anyway, back to my original point -- because people south of 30 (and even 40, really) are not typically in charge of things like major corporations and government agencies, being a twentysomething means your chances of seeing current or former colleagues doing things like this are slim. Getting a bit longer in the tooth sort of comes with a downside or two (just reference any recent mention here to waistline or hairline) but one of the cool things is that you sometimes want to jab the person next to you in the ribs and say that you know the guy under the klieg lights.