Commentary: What will you miss at the end of the road?

By Mr. Larry D Mccaskill (Army Contracting Command)December 30, 2014

usa image
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

During the last 32 years as a military public affairs professional, I've seen a lot of changes.

From pica poles, reproduction wheels, along with cutting and pasting copy to digital imagery and desktop publishing, producing military periodicals has come a long way. While the mechanics of getting the words on paper and for that matter distributing the products have changed, one thing hasn't and that's the need to tell the Army story.

I dabbled with journalism in college but I loved photography. When I decided to join the Army I thought I wanted to be a military photographer. My uncle, a sergeant major in an Army public affairs office, said he wanted to talk to me before I signed any paperwork. Always the kind of person who never saw any harm in listening, I sat down with him to see what he had to say.

Long story short, he convinced me that going into public affairs would give me a better opportunity to grow and also give me a skill that could be useful if I decided not to make the Army a career.

After completing basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, I made my way for the Defense Information School at Fort Ben Harrison, Indiana. Months later, I graduated and left the school house as a DINFOS-trained killer, ready to make my mark on the world. After assignments in Korea, Washington D.C., Italy and Germany, I decide to leave the military.

First job sans uniform was as a business reporter for the Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise, a daily newspaper with a circulation of 100,000. One of my "beats" was the Port of Beaumont. Part of the reason for that assignment was because it had lots of military traffic and I still understood the Army.

It was during that time I met someone who would be more than a friend for life. Thanks, June Pagan, for hiring me to my first federal position. I worked for June for quite a few more years and we got to know each other pretty well. When I "went off" on an Army lieutenant colonel, it was June who helped me figure out how to be aggressive without going overboard. Years later I saw her go overboard as well, only on an Air Force lieutenant colonel. Through it all we had a great time and I learned a lot from her.

The other person I learned a significant amount from was Joe Ferarre. I met Joe during my first assignment in the Army while stationed in Korea. He helped me be a Soldier and a journalist. Joe would never admit it, but he was a damn good example. He was a great mixture of common sense, Army knowledge and book smarts. (I wanted to be like Joe but don't tell him so.) As fate would have it, Joe and I worked together again years later and he was still as smart as ever. He is someone worth knowing for sure.

Looking back, the truth is I've learned something from every one of my jobs. I've seen how a poor leader, yes a poor leader, can tear down a person's ability to do their job. I've see a leader who not only didn't have his teammates' backs, but seen him throw them under the bus. Those types were rare and far between. What I saw constantly was men and women who cared about the job and the people around them.

So, after 32 years, what will I miss the most? I'll miss the smiles of Amy Hooks and Patricia Black when we were at the Deployment Support Command. I'll miss lunches with James Glenn at the Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne. I'll miss meeting Maj. Clyde White and Martha Rudd at 4 a.m. at Arlington National Cemetery for Veterans Day. I'll miss conversations with Ed Worley about the use of over and more than. I'll miss the people. The good thing is, with Social Media what it is, I don't have to miss them as much.