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During Hussein's reign, ham radio was joked about in DC circles as being the latest new hobby.
Remember this?
12/24/2009
White House Names Ham as New Cybersecurity Coordinator
FTA:
On Tuesday, December 22, President Barack Obama named Howard A. Schmidt, W7HAS, as the new White House Cybersecurity Coordinator. According to the White House, Schmidt – an ARRL member – is one of the world's leading authorities on computer security, with some 40 years of experience in government, business and law enforcement and "will have regular access to the President and serve as a key member of his National Security Staff. He will also work closely with his economic team to ensure that our cybersecurity efforts keep the Nation secure and prosperous."
Schmidt told the ARRL that he credits Amateur Radio with getting him involved with technology: "In high school, one of my friends was a ham and he got me interested in shortwave radio, which in turn got me into building shortwave radios and equipment, many from Heathkit. As I got older, I took courses from NRI and Bell and Howell in electronics and built a number of projects, preparing me for my first ham radio ticket. I love technology, and it was Amateur Radio that caused me to build my first computer – a Sinclair ZX-80 to use for EME calculations. I studied all about the OSCAR systems and would build equipment to monitor when they would pass within range of Arizona. Building these computers to support my ham radio hobby gave me the technical skills that I need to not only start doing computer crime investigations and work on the early stages of computer forensics, in turn enabling me to start working on cybersecurity issues."
Schmidt is no stranger to the White House – he served as a cyber-adviser in President George W. Bush's White House. After the 9/11 attacks, President Bush appointed Schmidt as the Vice Chairman of the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board and as the Special Adviser for Cyberspace Security for the White House. While at the White House, he assisted in the creation of the US National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, becoming Chairman in January 2003. In May 2003, Schmidt retired from the White House after 31 years of public service in local and federal government.
Schmidt has been an Amateur Radio operator for more than 30 years. "I was first licensed in the late 1970s as a Technician class licensee with the call sign WB7NUV," he told the ARRL. "I did a lot on 2 meters, 70 cm and on Packet. The TAPR group out of Tucson was real inspiration to me as I found the work they were doing absolutely wonderful. I started as a part of the Arizona Repeater Association (ARA) and lived for our annual hamfest at Ft Tuthill in Flagstaff."