Four leading tech executives have joined the United States Army Reserve with a special officer status that will see them work a little more than two weeks per year.
The recruits were sworn in just in time for the Army’s 250th birthday as part of a 2024 initiative by the U.S. military to find tech experts for short-term projects in cybersecurity, data analytics, and other areas.
The newly commissioned officers will be ranked as lieutenant colonels, the sixth-highest officer rank among Army personnel. However, they will still need to complete a fitness test and marksmanship training.
‘There’s a lot of patriotism that has been under the covers that I think is coming to light in the Valley.’
Chief Technology Officers Shyam Sankar and Andrew “Boz” Bosworth from Palantir and Meta, respectively, will be joined by Kevin Weil, chief product officer from OpenAI, and Bob McGrew, OpenAI’s former chief research officer.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the executives will bring sorely needed tech upgrades to the armed forces. Back in October 2024, the outlet reported on the Defense Department’s desire to bring on tech experts in part-time roles to help the federal government get up to speed on cybersecurity and data, sectors in which talent and skill have largely been siphoned off by the private sector in recent years.
The new program name will also be an ode to tech with the name Detachment 201, a reference to the hypertext transfer protocol status code 201 — computer speak referring to a successful server resource being created.
The new reservists will also be tasked with acquiring more commercial technology, according to the WSJ, but will be limited in their work hours — 120 per year — and will not be allowed to share any information with their civilian employers.
Bosworth said Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg supported his decision to join the Army Reserve, claiming, “There’s a lot of patriotism that has been under the covers that I think is coming to light in the Valley.”
Whatever his true intentions, Zuckerberg has presented himself as a more patriotic individual in the last year, including wooing UFC President Dana White with a giant American flag in Lake Tahoe.
Anduril founder Palmer Luckey has also spoke positively about how the Trump administration in particular has worked with the tech sector. In fact, Luckey said Meta had rid itself of any “insane radical leftists,” which has likely helped Zuckerberg become one of the darlings of the newly found marriage of tech CEOs and the right wing.
“I have always believed that America is a force for good in the world, and in order for America to accomplish that, we need a strong military,” McGrew said about his choice, per the WSJ.
Sankar reportedly said his reason for giving back to the country was because if it were “not for the grace of this nation,” his family would be “dead in a ditch” in Lagos, Nigeria.
Bosworth has allegedly enhanced his workouts in preparation for the service, but it is unclear whether he draws inspiration from legendary NFL agitator Brian “the Boz” Bosworth.
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