(Rufus, Vic and Frags in person at Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington).

A remarkable aggregation of the Old Salts gathered yesterday up in Arlington. It is a traditional meeting of a venerable veteran’s organization: The Naval Intelligence Professionals. It is a remarkable group of people, who celebrate service in the oldest member of the American Intelligence Community. That is a project edging closer to the action list for the Writer’s Section at Refuge Farm. As you may have heard, the role of the IC in current national affairs has had some moments of controversy of late. The part of it the Salts remember contained some great memories and an occasional triumph. It was worth the trip Up North from the Farm to see them in person. They are Great Americans and known from direct evidence.

But that trip added a certain level of complexity to an early day. For those attending from rural Culpeper, there was a search through seabags to find the sort of professional civilian wardrobes appropriate to the Club. And getting there. Which meant early rising on a decent morning for travel, dressed and groomed accordingly, driver arranged who was compensated for the trouble.

The trip north was a little behind the morning rural rush, so the changes along the route were interesting, new interchange arrangements approaching the Imperial City still swelling with importance. The memories swirled at the meeting. Some of us met in the immediate aftermath of the Vietnam conflict. The first collision with the Iranian theocracy occurred with some of us already committed to the business and others just joining a conflict now in its 43rd year.

There was a lot of laughter, of course. Events a world away a long time ago. A few sighs, and an active interest in the extraordinary events that have us on the edge of the use of weapons of mass destruction. Unless we already had one, of course. The WMD issue was part of our business for a very long time, so it is unexpected to see the issue being discussed again as a public policy matter. Now it is just one of several unusual possibilities as the global order seems to be a little unsteady. In that context, the annual meeting of the Old Salts was welcome and a bit of a release. And a drive in the country along the three-year construction project on I-66. Now that is something extraordinary!

But there is no question that it is the laughter and shared memory that made an early day a mirthful and happy one!

Copyright 2022 Vic Socotra
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