My favorite things: ‘My shadow box and challenge coins’

By Michael R. Malone [email protected] 11-10-2025

To visit "Jack" Wesley P. Miller's office in the University of Miami School of Communication is to tour a miniature museum.

The array of artifacts and memorabilia that adorn his desk and walls-tank helmets, shields, bullet shells, spears, religious relics, and so much more-reflect the breadth of an Air Force career that spanned more than 20 years and included duty at the Pentagon and tours in combat zones around the globe.

Amidst the constellation of artifacts, situated like polar stars at opposite ends of his office, are two collections that stand out for Miller, an associate professor of professional practice who teaches courses on crisis management and strategic communication.

"My shadow box and challenge coins have such special meaning, and there's an interesting relationship between the two," Miller said. "The shadow box has medals that show the many different places, battlefields, and organizations where I've served, while the challenge coins reflect the people that I've met along the way," said Miller.

"The challenge coins are basically a 'thank-you.' You get them throughout your career, and some of mine are from generals and admirals and senators and presidents," said Miller. "I don't look at them as attaboys or a trophy for winning a race, but instead as a pat on the back for the humanitarian assistance I provided while in the military."

The shadow box represents a life of service and leadership and a career journey from the battlefield to duty at the highest level, Miller explained.

That journey started just after high school and was seeded in failure.

Before college, Miller took two years off to play semi-pro football. The NFL was on strike, and he hoped for a chance at the elite league but soon realized he was outmatched by bigger, faster players.

"I got to be beat by the best. It was my first failure of life and awesome because it allowed me to drop that and go do something else," Miller recounted.

He was 20, living on his own, working in a grocery store in his hometown of Seattle, and began taking classes at nearby Central Washington University. He had no idea of what he wanted to do until one day a military recruiting officer showed up on campus.

"He was decked out in military service dress and exuded an aura of confidence. The students looked at him with admiration, like 'he's got it figured out,'" Miller said. "It was an epiphany for me. I didn't come from a military family, so I didn't know the difference between a sergeant and a major, but I knew right then that I wanted to be 'that guy.'"

Miller became that guy. He visited the ROTC office, was impressed by the honesty-"Give us two years; you take a look at us, and we'll take a look at you"-and signed up.

Those two years turned into an amazing career. As a college senior, he became a corps commander of cadets, then later got his first commission. Miller served as a public relations officer in the Air Force from 1992 to 2014. During that time, he would move 17 times and take 23 jobs that included five combat deployments.

He was part of the team in the early 2000s that ceded control of Panama Canal to Panama and closed the military bases, relocating U.S. Southern Command headquarters to Miami.

While stationed in Miami, he was hired as a ROTC instructor at the University and completed his master's in 2003 in the same program where he teaches today.

His three-year stint in Miami was the longest of his military career. From there, he was called to other assignments in Bosnia and Kosovo in Europe; Zambia, Botswana, Tanzania, and Ethiopia in Africa, where he was involved in lots of humanitarian service, building schools, culverts, and drilling wells-duties that most people don't associate with the military.

Other tours included Iraq and Afghanistan, where he served as an advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan ministers during the largest U.S. troop deployments of the war.

Back in the States, he worked at the Pentagon as official Air Force spokesperson and part of the White House public relations team that held daily briefings on global affairs.

When he retired from the Air Force, Miller returned to Miami and first worked for the Wounded Warrior Project. He had kept in touch with the University and was hired as an adjunct professor. After a few years and when hired full-time by the University, he realized he couldn't work both jobs with the integrity he wanted. He continues to consult with Wounded Warriors.

Teaching and mentoring students have since become his all-important way to pay it forward.

"My goal is to share the inspiration I was given. I apply lessons learned through my journeys and talk a lot about examples and metaphors," said Miller, who's even developed his own "Miller Ethical Chart" that he may one day copyright.

"I love teaching ethics, whether you're doing communication, business, media, the military, or any field. I emphasize that character matters, that integrity matters, and that people matter.

"Students will ask me about the stuff in here. They see the rank, see that I was a colonel, but I want them to know that all of us can be leaders, that leadership is not about rank, it's about service, and success isn't about a title-it's about impact," said Miller.

Despite his career, Miller is clear that the military may not be for everyone. He isn't sure that he even wants either of his daughters or his son to join when they're of age.

"But metaphorically, life will take these students across battlefields, boardrooms, and classrooms, and I always tell them that you have to stay committed to growth and purpose. All of us can be part of something greater than ourselves," Miller said.

"The military happened to be my journey, and it defined me. It can be inspirational, it can be humbling and powerful, but it's symbolic that all of us get to chart our own journey," he said. "The shadow box is a reminder of where I've been and reminds me of the values that I hope to pass on to the next generation of leaders here at the University."