Kassouf sometimes called former classmates who had taken jobs in places like Austin, Texas, or Tucson, Arizona, and they would compare notes. One friend at Lockheed Martin worked on F-35 stealth aircraft, a lucrative program for the company. Eventually, the Air Force would buy more than two thousand units at a cost of $85 million each. It may sound like glamorous work, but it was not. Kassouf’s friend had just a single job, finding a supplier for a bolt on the aircraft’s landing gear and ensuring that it met all quality specifications. That single bolt was the totality of his employment.
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