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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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. -
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. -
The NPR Taking Cover podcast team tracks down the family of an Iraqi man who was mistakenly killed by Marines.
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In 2004, a U.S. general told the family of an Iraqi interpreter that insurgents killed their brother. The truth was more painful: He was mistakenly killed by Americans he had risked his life to help. -
Two convoys of private U.S. citizens arrived in Port Sudan over the weekend after departing the capital of Khartoum, where deadly fighting between rival militaries has killed hundreds. -
A mortar blast killed two Marines in Iraq almost 20 years ago. But families weren't told for years it was "friendly fire," a tragic accident, despite regulations. Some of the wounded were never told. -
NPR podcast Taking Cover delves into the worst Marine-on-Marine friendly fire incident in modern history.
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Russia throws new conscripts into battle — beginning a winter offensive in Ukraine. Ukrainians plan their own offensive soon. Can either side avoid a stalemate?
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Russia throws new conscripts into battle — beginning a winter offensive in Ukraine. Ukrainians plan their own offensive soon. Can either side avoid a stalemate?
