Tom Bowman
Tom Bowman is a NPR National Desk reporter covering the Pentagon.
In his current role, Bowman has traveled to Syria as well as Iraq and Afghanistan often for month-long visits and embedded with U.S. Marines and soldiers.
Before coming to NPR in April 2006, Bowman spent nine years as a Pentagon reporter at The Baltimore Sun. Altogether he was at The Sun for nearly two decades, covering the Maryland Statehouse, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the National Security Agency (NSA). His coverage of racial and gender discrimination at NSA led to a Pentagon investigation in 1994.
Initially Bowman imagined his career path would take him into academia as a history, government, or journalism professor. During college Bowman worked as a stringer at The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass. He also worked for the Daily Transcript in Dedham, Mass., and then as a reporter at States News Service, writing for the Miami Herald and the Anniston (Ala.) Star.
Bowman is a co-winner of a 2006 National Headliners' Award for stories on the lack of advanced tourniquets for U.S. troops in Iraq. In 2010, he received an Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage of a Taliban roadside bomb attack on an Army unit.
Bowman earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from St. Michael's College in Winooski, Vermont, and a master's degree in American Studies from Boston College.
-
The Army plans to resume large-scale combat training in the Mojave Desert in a few weeks, after a three-month hiatus. A recent simulation showed just how that will work with the coronavirus spread. -
The U.S. Army is adapting its recruiting amid the coronavirus, cutting the number of people in recruiting stations and moving much of its pitching online. -
A key NCAA panel has cleared the way for college athletes to be paid. Once approved, athletes could get sponsorship and endorsement deals but would not get money from their universities or colleges.
-
Top Navy officials want to reinstate the commander of the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. Pentagon officials are considering the Navy's request, but now there's word of a possible wider investigation.
-
Naval leaders have recommended Capt. Brett Crozier be restored to command of an aircraft carrier. He was removed after complaining that the Navy was not helping his coronavirus-struck crew enough.
-
The Army says it will adhere to social distancing rules. Officials said that training will operate at "a reduced capacity," but did not offer specifics. Basic training had been paused for two weeks. -
Dozens of Kurdish families fled to the northeast Syrian village of Tal Tamr last fall, escaping a Turkish invasion. U.S. forces help provide some security, but the families face an uncertain future. -
The sailor from the USS Theodore Roosevelt tested positive for COVID-19 in March. The ship's captain was relieved of command for urging his superiors to do more to protect his crew.
-
Defense officials say that the hospital ship USNS Comfort will now accept patients with Covid-19. And, the acting Navy secretary has resigned over his handling of a virus-stricken aircraft carrier.
-
The Acting Secretary of the Navy had harsh words for the former captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The ousted captain criticized Navy officials in the wake of a coronavirus outbreak on his ship.
