Was he REALLY just a small-town insurance agent turned writer? Do you really think some “average guy from Maryland” was able to draw such meticulous renderings of the inner workings of America’s most glorious instruments, both martial and diplomatic, of the post-détente Cold War by reading Popular Science magazine and attending gun shows?  No, Clancy was a mole. A mole who had infiltrated the U.S. Government on behalf of the U.S. Government, but a mole nonetheless. The full facts of his only recently-ended mission probably won’t see the light of day for another 100 years, if ever. I have a feeling it was part of a covert operation to instill pride and patriotism in those American citizens who were sorely lacking it (like Chris Jackson and Roseanne Barr), but who knows?

If you don’t believe me, just take a look at his dust cover jacket photos over the years. He’s always standing on the deck of an aircraft carrier or sitting in a fighter jet. Do you think the powers that be are wont to allow any Joe Schmoe writer and his accompanying photographer to stroll about and around these kinds of top-secret billion-dollar pieces of machinery so they can get some “good snaps” for their publishing house? Yeah, right, just try it sometime and see, but make sure your last will and testament is in proper order. Because they will destroy you.