Y'know, my respect for Jake has slowly and steadily grown over the conflict. He doesn't have the same ground forces experience as a lot of the other guys, so he can't provide that kind of personal infantryman insight some of the others can, from their own personal military experiences.
What Jake does the best though, is tackle the news of the conflict with a certain sensitivity. Much like Vlad Vexler, Jake manages to never hate the Russians, only disapprove of what they're doing. And it costs him. It feels like he wishes he could hate them, but he just won't let himself.
I admire that a lot.