NOTE: Tom wrote this on Wednesday, 16 Jan After speaking at the St. Joseph Missouri Air National Guard event on Tuesday night, I was driven by an officer to Manhattan KS, where I spoke to senior officers of the Big Red One (1st Infantry Division). That was a great bunch to brief, and the Q&A extended nicely into a cocktail hour and then into a lengthy steak dinner with a select group of senior-most officers. Got a nice crystal figure of the 1st ID's shield. That went along with a nice command coin and wooden plaque (with a pewter Pony Express rider on it, as the express originated in St. Joseph MO) from the USAF the day before, plus a leather bomber jacket (which I passed on to my wife). As mementos go, this was a usually heavy haul. The military is very nice in that way, typically going way out of its way to express appreciation for talks, knowing that I could skip a lot of these invites and simply concentrate on the big paying gigs. That was the main reason why I had to leave the Leigh Bureau speaking agency: their unhappiness with my mix of big and small fees (they wanted only the former--go figure!). But you have to have a balance, and you get everyone to pay what's fair given their resources. Anyway, it was very cool to see Fort Riley. Beautiful old place with limestone buildings. No John Nagl, as he was speaking in PA that day, but I will meet up with him someday soon, after he resettles in DC in his new think tank gig. I expect John could be a political appointee in some new administration. I would like to see that a lot.