Ward is indeed like a real life
Buckaroo Banzai. So there I was in first year as Editor of Approach magazine and I get this letter (this was Old School era circa 1987) from a bored JO on cruise asking me if I was interested in his doodling. Seeing an advanced sense of humor that I thought would appeal to JOs (the target audience for the most part) I wrote back saying that I'd run it if he'd commit to a regular feature and give me enough to always have several in production and tied to themes I was working. And so it began....of course, i had to figure out how to get it past our really old school Chief of Staff (all issues go through front office approval, but because there is a contractual timeline, I only needed CoS, Deputy or the Admiral). So I tactically waited until a day that only the admiral was present and personally showed it to him with a "Trust me, the JOs will LOVE it!"...(luckily, he was a fighter guy and not hidebound like his front office O-6s) and they di d love it so began the adventures of Dangerboy.
Ward is as irreverant as they come and has an advanced sense of humor. When it came time to search for my relief, the admiral asked what I thought and I replied "There is only one guy you should consider, Ward". The problem was he had already rolled to shore duty less than a year prior so it would take two waivers at highest level in PERS-43. That's when success of Dangerboy paid off. The flag officer who had to approve the waicvers was Jay Johnson and he was a Dnagerboy fan. No problemo. Ward got the job and Dangerboy thrived.