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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Last night, eight of the Republican candidates running for president took the debate stage for the first time. They had one major point of disagreement: Russia's war on Ukraine.
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John Sopko has long been a U.S. government-appointed watchdog for how money was distributed in Afghanistan. He believes there are lessons that apply to aiding Ukraine's fight against Russia. -
Kabul fell to the Taliban close to two years ago, but desperate Afghans continue to flee, even taking the dangerous journey into the U.S. across the Mexican border.
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Kabul fell to the Taliban close to two years ago, but desperate Afghans continue to flee, even taking the dangerous route into the U.S. across the Mexican border. Here's the story of one such family. -
As Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021, a teenager got separated from his family at the airport and wound up on a plane without them. He's been living on his own in the U.S. -
The White House will send cluster munitions to Ukraine. Officials say they'll be effective against dug-in Russian troops, but the controversial munitions are also banned by more than 100 countries.
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More than 100 countries ban such weapons because unexploded bomblets can be picked up by civilians, causing injury or death. An announcement is expected Friday. -
As Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021, a teenager was separated from his family at the airport and wound up on a plane without them. He's been in the U.S. ever since — alone.
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Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive is underway. Many wonder how successful it will be in pushing back Russian forces, but U.S. defense officials are calling the war a marathon, not a sprint.
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Analysis of what declining Army recruitment might mean for the U.S. moving forward.
