We asked for your defense band names. You delivered.

WASHINGTON — As with so many things in Washington these days, it started with a tweet.

In between working on stories the morning of Dec. 17, your humble correspondent sent a message into the digital ether, making a (not so) particularly good joke combining a wonky Pentagon acronym (the Joint Artificial Intellignece Center, or JAIC) and a third-wave ska band.

I expected a few responses, but within minutes, people were pouring in with suggestions. Some were just OK. Some were solid. And the vast majority were really good — which made picking the top options tough. But hey, our readers come here for the truth, and as a reporter I am obligated to oblige.

Below are the favorites, as agreed upon by the Defense News staff, and grouped together by theme. I’m sorry to anyone who didn’t make the cut — we had so many submissions that were fantastic, and even cutting it down to this still fairly extensive list was difficult.

And so without further ado ... let’s a-do this.

Leadership puns

A number of tweets played off the names of Defense Department leaders or relevant members of Congress.

Tech and industry

Unsurprisingly, tech puns based on equipment were also popular. The only truly surprising thing here? No one just responded with “The B-52s.”

Strategy and policy

And here is where the real nerds came out to play — a plethora of puns pulsating with Pentagon posts, planning and policy.

Thanks to everyone who played along. This was a lot of fun. And if you feel you missed out, well — there’s no time limit on replying to tweets.

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