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.
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Documents show the U.S. military is planning to sever all ties with the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts. -
During the speech last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lectured senior military officials on the "warrior ethos," focusing on fitness and grooming standards, and calling out "fat generals." -
Tom Bowman has held his Pentagon press pass for 28 years. He says the Pentagon's new media policy makes it impossible to be a journalist, which means finding out what's really going on behind the scenes and not accepting wholesale what any government or administration says. -
As famine plagues Gaza, NPR exclusive reporting looks at the U.S. role in the humanitarian crisis. Many former officials NPR interviewed share a common refrain: Did we do enough to prevent this? -
The State Department has shuttered the team involved in South China Sea security, getting rid of top experts on the subject at a time when the administration says security in the region is a priority. -
The memo obtained by NPR says troops would be used in activities, including in "night operations and rural interdiction," as well as "guard duty and riot control" inside detention facilities. -
The heavily redacted report focuses on an August altercation at Arlington National Cemetery involving two campaign staffers for former President Donald Trump and a cemetery employee. -
A new study says half a million people are now facing starvation, as all of the Gaza Strip is at high risk of famine. Aid groups say Israel needs to secure aid routes.
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"Military and some civilian leaders have been in constant damage control over the last four years. The old 'cleanup on aisle 4, then 6, then 8,' " a retired officer says of President Trump's tenure. -
If confirmed as defense secretary, retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin would be the first African-American to run the world's largest employer, with some 2.2 million servicemembers.
