Not all news out of D.C. is bad. Yesterday, members of Congress, friends, and family of Representative Zach Nunn (R., Iowa) gathered on the Speaker’s Balcony to celebrate a rare achievement — a congressman’s promotion to colonel in the U.S. Air Force.

Nunn has served for nearly two decades. I remember being terribly impressed with him during a meeting in Senator Tom Cotton’s office years ago, when he was first contemplating a run for Congress.

An airborne intelligence officer, the congressman flew reconnaissance missions off perilous coastlines proximate to Russia and China. He deployed three times to the Middle East, with over 700 hours of mission time in hazardous places doing hazardous things. He later led the 233d Intelligence Squadron of the Iowa Air National Guard.

I left the Air Force years ago, but it’s been a joy to watch officers that I served with as lieutenants and captains rise to field-grade commands. Promotion ceremonies are a special thing in the military.

Nunn’s office sent out a short clip of him “pinning on” here that makes for some wholesome viewing.

The majority of Congress was composed of military veterans in the 1960s and 1970s. But their numbers have waned. We should elect more of them.