One of the editorial highlights of any publication is the moment you decide it is ready to go to press. The moment comes after weeks and months of planning, and a final few frenetic days of proofing pages, editing text and tweaking the design.

The ‘Moment’ for Military Images arrived last night when I put my red pen down, confident that the Winter 2014 issue (my first as editor and publisher) was completed.

And while my description may make it seem a solitary journey, it was anything but a lonesome adventure. My wife Anne has been great in every way, and her honest feedback along the way truly appreciated. Copy Editor Jack Hurov has been terrific. His work has sharpened the text and put MI on the path of a solid style guide that will be very useful for future issues. I am indebted to Senior Editor Mike McAfee for his great column, “Uniforms & History,” and for the number of times over the last few months that I’ve emailed him images with a request for his authoritative opinion, which he always gave quickly and decisively.

So many other friends of MI have rallied to support our efforts, and I’ve been overwhelmed with their generosity. Contributing Editors Ron Field, Steve Karnes, Scott Valentine and David W. Vaughan contacted me early on and shared their contributions and observations. They were not alone! Other contributors in this issue include Rick Carlile, David Cress, Shayne Davidson, Francis Guber, Janet & Bedford Hayes, Don Hopkins, Mike Hunt, Rich Jahn, Tom Liljenquist, Greg Mast, John Robella, Gary and Bill Stier, Bryan Watson and Buck Zaidel.

In the end, it is your passion, enthusiasm and energy that keeps MI alive. This thought is foremost in my mind this morning.

The work of course is not complete! Today, I’ll make pdfs of the pages and shipped them via DropBox to the printer. And planning is already underway for the Spring 2014 issue and beyond!