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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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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The president has taken a series of abrupt moves, firing the defense secretary and announcing troop cutbacks in Afghanistan and Iraq. Critics say these actions have no clear strategic goal. -
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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Secretary Esper has kept a letter of resignation on hand since the summer, when he and the president disagreed over the use of active duty troops to put down street protests. -
Uniformed police are generally not allowed around polling places, and the Pentagon doesn't want to get involved. Still, they're getting ready if things get out of control. -
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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Last week the president tweeted that troops should be home from Afghanistan by Christmas. In an interview with NPR, Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said no final decisions have been made.
