MEDIA CONTEST: Colonel questions: what’s in your pocket?

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ACC MEDIA CONTEST --  I was emptying out my BDU pockets the other day and realized I have an awful lot of stuff there.

Nail clippers - I picked them up from a merchant outside Misawa Air Base, Japan, 15 years ago and have carried them every day since.

Metal tooth pick - good dental health is important.

Knife - when I went to the FBI National Academy several years ago they told us the average police officer carries two knives. For the most part I've always been a one-knife man but I've been known to have more from time to time.

Canvas and Velcro coin purse - very tactical; the coins don't jingle when you walk.
Chapstick - it's windy in North Dakota, 'nuff said.

Money clip - I'm not obsessive compulsive about much, but I like all the bills facing the same way.

Wallet - the usual assortment of credit cards, photos, identification card, driver's license, and, most interestingly, two 1976 sequentially numbered two-dollar bills and a three-day pass to Disney World with two days yet to be used. I wonder if it's still good?

Notepad and small pen - you never know when it will come in handy.

Reading glasses - until recently, vanity and fear of shifting vision while walking the escalators at the Rosslyn Metro station in Northern Virginia prevented me from wearing bifocals.

Pocket-size copy of the Declaration of Independence - my favorite passage is the final sentence which states, "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." Frankly, I've read few words in my life as inspiring as these.

Pocket-size copy of the Constitution of the United States - personally, by virtue of education, training and philosophical world view, I'm a big fan of the Fourth Amendment. On the other hand, as a military professional, I pay strict attention to Article II Section 2 wherein the president is named the commander in chief.

All of this leads me to a question that only you can answer. Since all members of the U.S. military have sworn an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, I'm curious how many have actually taken the time to read the document? If you haven't, I highly recommend you do so.

So let me ask one final question: What do you carry in your pockets?