I was mainly referring to DoD workers. NASA is a bit of an exception since many aspects of what they work on is public info.
The point I was trying to make is that I imagine that these brilliant engineers wouldn't be focusing their efforts on iterative improvements to vacuums and tablets.
I do agree that it would be better if the DoD money was used for something more peaceful. On the other hand was the Manhattan project quite cool and DARPA-net turned out to become something quite useful.
To be a bit more serious: I do consider the notion that private enterprises always are better to be stupid. For large projects the private bureaucracy are usually as big as the government ones. The private enterprises are with a few exceptions very shortsighted; that is why I joke about another tablet. Show me the company that put serious money into e.g. fusion.
The point I was trying to make is that I imagine that these brilliant engineers wouldn't be focusing their efforts on iterative improvements to vacuums and tablets.