Heather Nauert, US State Department spokesperson, was nominated today by President Donald Trump to be the next US Ambassador to the United Nations.

Heather is a dedicated wife of a Morgan Stanley executive and mother of two sons. A graduate of Columbia University’s School of Journalism, this Emmy nominated talent has had many high profile media stints, including hosting morning and special report shows.

Her last media position, News Presenter for Fox News’ Fox & Friends, is what she was doing when I met her.

Heather and I followed each other on Twitter for a time, and then I received a direct message from her asking if I would be interested in coming on Fox & Friends as an expert on the incarceration mission at the US military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

I accepted the offer, and over the next several years made occasional appearances for live interviews on Gitmo, and even did a segment on Bret Baier’s Cuba special.

My book, “Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay: A Memoir of a Citizen Warrior,” published in 2010, details my time at Gitmo as the ranking US Army Medical Department officer with the Joint Detainee Operations Group officer, Joint Task Force 160, from February to June, 2002, and was promoted on the show.

Heather and the hosts on Fox & Friends who interviewed me, including Brian Kilmead, Steve Doocy, Tucker Carlson, Ed Henry and Pete Hegseth (also a fellow Gitmo alumni) always treated me like, well, a friend.

Before and after segments, Heather would call me over to her desk in the studio and she and I would exchange pleasantries and chat about our families. Always brief, but always sincere and appreciative.

A fan of Fox News and especially Fox & Friends, I enjoyed the professionalism and talent of these people who always made me feel welcome and appreciated when I was on.

I was happy and excited for Heather when she left Fox for the State Department in April 2017. Again, as spokesperson for the Secretary of State, first for Rex Tillerson, and now for Mike Pompeo.

Heather’s delivery as spokesperson is always confident and reassuring, and her press releases informative and on point. She is a very pleasant, but no nonsense communications expert.

If appointed to the position of UN Ambassador, I have no doubt that Heather will be an effective and efficient communicator. She will take care of the business of the United States in the UN with grace and aplomb, and represent Americans with the very highest standards of excellence and diplomacy.

I know that Heather will excel in this role if for no other reason than because of her loyalty to duty and country. Heather is a full blown patriot from all American roots in the heartland, of Rockford, Illinois, not far from my birthplace in Geneva, IL, and where my father was born and raised in Rockton, IL. My mother was born and raised just across the border on a farm in Beloit, Wisconsin. I can attest with full confidence that the Midwest values with which Heather was surely raised, she will be honest and true, no matter the circumstances.

Before obtaining her master’s degree from Columbia (where I am also an alumni; from Teacher College), Heather attended  Keith Country Day School in Rockford, Illinois, Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, then Arizona State University. After landing an internship hosting a country music video program in Washington, DC, she stayed there to finish school, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Mount Vernon College for Women.

Heather has worked as a government affairs consultant on issues including health insurance, Social Security and taxes. She was also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Her time in the State Department has been successful and impressive, having dealt with sticky issues of significant importance time and again, from Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and Gaza border protests to a tense situation between Canada and Saudi Arabia, where in response to calls for US involvement in a dispute, Heather said, “It is up for the Government of Saudi Arabia and the Canadians to work this out. Both sides need to diplomatically resolve this together. We cannot do it for them.”

I have no doubt that Heather will make all Americans proud carrying the torch of freedom and liberty through democracy as an example to all nations in the UN.

Congratulations on your nomination, Heather. I know I speak for a lot of your followers and fans when I say we will be hoping and praying for a painless, smooth and successful confirmation process.

How about let’s get out there and remind our senators what we think about Heather and that we feel she is the absolute best person to represent our interests in the largest, most important diplomatic organization on earth.