Steve Valley, an Army public affairs specialist who spent two years in Iraq, has been bugging me to read his book “Inside the Fortress,” and so in response to his entreaties, I moved it to the top of the stack of books by my bedside. It’s not a long book, but I skipped to the chapter on the news media, and found a shocking revelation.

CNN New Years “coverage” from Times square, was edgy, and fun, even if it did produce some cringeworthy moments, notable when pottymouthed comedienne Kathy Griffin asked Anderson Cooper what his “safe word” is?

Security Scare or Media Scare? Should the Coast Guard “exercise” with more restraint, lest it overexcite the trigger-happy news media, or should the media wait until they know what’s happening before inciting panic with unconfirmed reports? Call me crazy, but I think CNN blew it, big time.

“Actions speak louder than words,” my 97-year-old mother is fond of saying. Adm. Mike Mullen seems to have embraced the wisdom of that aphorism, in his “From the Chairman,” essay in the current issue of Joint Forces Quarterly.

The Press is not the enemy, or are we? The current kerfuffle over rating of reporters covering the U.S. military underscores the tension that exists between the military and media, which strikes me as a good thing.