Year End Thanks

I spend much of my time lobbing queries to public affairs folks in various branches of government who deal with legions of reporters. Based on my experience, most of the people on the receiving end of those queries handle them (and me) with grace and class.

So, thanks to the people who put up with a sometimes cranky Brewin: Monte Marlin and Clammy Montoya, PAOs at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., who served as great hosts for the two Army network integration exercises at the range this year and the annual Bataan Memorial Death March. The march is, in some ways, the best day of my year as it epitomizes the kind of comradeship and camaraderie that only comes from shared, tough experiences.

Paul Mehney, PAO for the Army System of Systems Integration Directorate, who hosted a whole mess of reporters at both network integration exercises with an easy going manner that belied the challenges of the task. Bunches of reporters present a far greater herding challenge than cats.

Laura Williams, PAO at the Defense Information Systems Agency who always acknowledges my queries and sets up interviews on complex subjects quickly. Laura also manages to say "no" rather nicely, along with the long version, "we cannot discuss that due to matters of national security."

Katie Roberts, who until April of this year, served as the truly feisty press secretary at the Veterans Affairs Department. Katie is so feisty that she dropped the VA job and is now working as a PAO for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Jo Schuda, another VA public affairs officer who handles the widget account deserves thanks for fielding numerous and often arcane queries from me for years.

Air Force Lt. Col. April Cunningham, the Pentagon PAO who handles questions on information technology, communications and spectrum epitomizes grace under pressure -- responding quickly and unflappably, despite the fact that the Pentagon press shop has a few other things to deal with (two wars) than my queries.

Two friends -- Navy Capt. Dave Wray, commander of the Joint Public Affairs Support Element and George Wright, acting civilian deputy director in the Army PA shop -- deserve thanks for helping me stay on the beam and exercise restraint of pen and tongue.