Pros
Some of the smartest people I've had the pleasure to meet. I learned a lot, and there's a good quantity of curious people that like to learn. People come here from Raytheon and describe it like a breath of fresh air. Had a great boss and made some good friends. Promotions possible if you're buddy-buddy and have someone who fights for you, about like other places in this regard as far as I can tell.
Cons
Politics, reorgs, multiple layers of bosses. Retention is poor especially for younger employees, and it's worse than it has to be partly because of the way performance reviews raises work. People quit their bosses. I had a good department head, and then a reorg shuffled everything around and people with absolutely no leadership experience or chops were in charge. I've learned a lot about how *not* to behave as a leader from working here. If Raytheon is worse than MITRE, I know to stay the hell away from there. Very academic environment. Little drive to support the mission. Many people are burned out and in denial about it.