Unfortunately you do see this kind of thing ("fiefdoms" impeding progress) a lot in the government. Sometimes it works well (Adm. Hyman Rickover at Naval Reacto

Unfortunately you do see this kind of thing ("fiefdoms" impeding progress) a lot in the government. Sometimes it works well (Adm. Hyman Rickover at Naval Reactors), but often you get things like this, with people (well-intentioned perhaps) hanging on to a position for so long that they become locked into what worked 15 years ago. That's not necessarily bad for slowly-evolving fields, but it's certainly not helpful here.