I'm not American, but I'm very aware of the impact 18f has had from seeing the many posts on here of their work over the years: https://hn.algolia.com/?q=18f

I'm also aware of at least a handful of hacker new members, and people I've followed, who took time out of their carriers to do a "tour of duty" at 18f.

I feel for all today, you were doing good work!