Most of the themes discussed in the above essay are pervasive in sci-fi and current literature in physics, astronomy, Air Force news, and biotechnology. However, the last concept is mine. I drew inspiration from the existence and original purpose of the Cheyenne Mountain complex, the importance of secure and robust control of cyberspace in today’s environment, and the threats from various natural disasters and both past and possible attacks on vulnerable infrastructure.
The document is an excellent example of one of my greatest strengths. I have the well-practiced and intuitive ability to take many existing ideas from a large swath of sources from various settings, remember all of the high-level concepts, and weave the whole of them into a coherent narrative.
While this essay is not the most elegant piece of writing, it is still meaningful to me for three reasons.
- Without referencing anything not already in my head, given the prompt, I wrote the entry in less than an hour. I.e., While most of the ideas were first described by someone else, they left enough of an impression that I remembered those ideas despite having not seen the sources for up to a few years in the past.
- Despite what I consider to be poor writing mechanics (I missed several proofreading and copy editing steps), my essay went up against over 100 other airmen (enlisted, commissioned, and cadets). It was one of only three honorable mentions.
- Because of that standing, the Holm Center commander (a brigadier general) and my detachment commander both saw my essay. My detachment commander was sufficiently impressed that he read it to the entire detachment when we returned the following semester.