A passion for the possibilities presented by technology combined with the years of experience from the school of "Hard Knocks" sounds like the recipe for a great IT person. When the operational security and data integrity of an entire organization is hanging in the balance you had better have someone who always "plans for the worst and forever has an alternate plan in place. In a time of panic you can't afford to be bankrupt of plans, preparation or nerves-of-steel. All those come together in their strongest form in "some" of the older IT staff. When you can find one, use them to teach others If they are prepared to learn and managers have the courage to manage the skills training of their staff.
Unfortunately, managers generally feel threatened by the experience and knowledge of older staff, when instead they should be happy to have that knowledge and experience available.
"Joy-Stick-Jockeys" with the reboot/restart mentality are a danger until they are paired with older, more experienced workers.