In my 25+ years working for the “military industrial complex” several major defense contractors have moved to the DC area (DC proper, VA and MD); General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, SAIC, Orbital.....and now Boeing. Willie Sutton was right —you go to where the money is and all the decisions are in DC.
And there have been countless mergers and buyouts of smaller tech firms to create financial powerhouses.
I’m retired now, but I still miss the underlying nervous energy of the DC area.....
I don't miss it a bit.
I was on a one-way flight to Thailand one week after my retirement and haven't looked back. I only wish I'd retired a year or two earlier...