Agreed, and if you're talking about an army, DJB is a wonderful example. Not only can he write iron code, but he can successfully sue the government when they try to restrict it, while representing himself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernstein_v._United_States

That, and teaching a course where the class uncovers 44 Unix security holes is quite impressive: http://it.slashdot.org/story/04/12/15/2113202/DJB-Announces-...