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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The nation's capital was quiet amid unprecedented security on Inauguration Day — but there were also celebrations for the history-making vice president.
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Joe Biden's inaugural will be one that we haven't seen before. Ten thousand National Guard soldiers will help provide security. And because of the pandemic, there will be no inaugural balls.
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A rally in support of President Trump turned chaotic on Wednesday. The U.S. Capitol went into lockdown as protesters breached the building.
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In the last weeks of the Trump administration, the U.S. is moving to close a two-decade chapter and withdraw from Afghanistan, causing great apprehension among Afghans as the Taliban step up attacks.
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In the final weeks of his administration, President Trump is pushing through policies and making appointments that his successor will have to contend with.
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A recent shake-up in senior leadership at the Pentagon has raised a lot of questions. Those questions increased with news about the administration's plan to pull troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq.
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A U.S official has confirmed with NPR that the White House is planning to cut the number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. This news comes in the wake of a shake-up in leadership at the Pentagon.
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President Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday — replacing him with Christopher C. Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. What does the timing of this mean?
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Defense Secretary Mark Esper has been "terminated," President Trump announced on Twitter on Monday. Esper will be replaced by Christopher C. Miller, director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
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Steps from the White House, where divisions of the past year have played out, crowds are celebrating. So far, the National Guard has not been activated this election.
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Uniformed police are generally not allowed around polling places, and the Pentagon doesn't want to get involved. Still, authorities are getting ready if things get out of control.
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The military's Commander in Chief, President Donald Trump, is in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus. So what does that mean for the military operations?