Giving Some Thanks on Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so I'm going to doff my grump hat and thank the folks who make this column possible, starting with some really fine military public affairs officers.

These PAOs have a tough job. They need to feed news hungry hordes of ink-stained (or in my case, digit-stained) wretches with accurate facts on a Web-driven deadline schedule -- and in doing so with probably more grace and style than I could muster if the roles were reversed.

In my experience, military PAOs also could teach their colleagues in civilian agencies a lesson or two and are way ahead of most of their counterparts in the private sector.

So, many warm thanks to these folks:

• Jon Anderson, Defense Information Systems Agency
• Terry Jones, Military Health System
• Charlene Reynolds, Military Health System
• Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh, Pentagon press desk
• Army Lt. Col. Marty Downie, Army Pentagon press shop and Iraq
• Steve Davis, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command
• Julie Calohan, Madigan Army Medical Center
• John Donaldson, Naval Network Warfare Command
• Dave Hampton, Fort Bliss, Texas
• Ray Steen, Army Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care
• Vicki Stein, Pentagon Air Force press desk
• Michael Kleiman, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.
• Lindy Kyzer, Army Online and Social Media Division

And finally, two true friends and superb PAOs who serve as living reminders of what is important: George Wright, in the Army Pentagon public affairs ship, and Navy Capt. Dave Wray, commander of the Joint Public Affairs Support Element of the U.S. Joint Forces Command.

Last, but not least, my thanks go to Katie Roberts, the press secretary at the Veterans Affairs Department, who puts up with me despite the slings and arrows I send her way in this column.