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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Afghan military officials say the U.S. left in secret and turned the electricity off on the way out. The Pentagon pushed back. It's yet another mishap in the rocky U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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A major hub for the U.S. military is turned over to Afghan forces, effectively ending U.S. operations in Afghanistan.
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Bagram Airfield was the United States' largest base in Afghanistan. The U.S. military has now withdrawn and handed control over to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force.
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As security conditions deteriorate, the White House has signaled that it intends to evacuate thousands of Afghan citizens who worked with U.S. forces, and who now fear retribution.
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Under an agreement made by the Trump administration, today was supposed to be the deadline for the US to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. But the Biden administration is taking more time.
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The Afghan military remains heavily dependent on U.S. equipment, training and money. It's far from clear how effective this U.S. assistance will be once American troops are gone.
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Every unit is holding a "stand down" to talk about extremism in the ranks. But the armed forces are still grappling with fundamental questions of how to define, identify and best deal with it.
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The Pacific Deterrence Initiative aims to beef up the military in the Pacific and work more closely with partners and allies. But some experts are cautious about inflating the Chinese threat.
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The U.S. has carried out an airstrike in Syria against an Iranian-backed militia target. The move appears to be in response to a series of rocket attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq.
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The deadly riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6 has forced military leadership to confront the threat of domestic extremism. Rioters that day included current and former service members.