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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NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman is turning in his press pass, but won't stop reporting. Major news organizations are rejecting a restrictive new policy around covering the Department of Defense.
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Tom Bowman has held his Pentagon press pass for 28 years. He says the Pentagon's new media policy makes it impossible to be a journalist, which means finding out what's really going on behind the scenes and not accepting wholesale what any government or administration says. -
In a memo obtained by NPR, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lays out details on the proposed deployment of Illinois National Guard to Chicago.
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President Trump told top U.S. commanders Tuesday that he plans to use American cities as a training ground for the U.S. military to fight what he called the "enemy within."
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President Trump defended the use of troops in U.S. cities while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told military commanders about new physical fitness and grooming requirements for uniformed personnel.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called top military officials from around the world to a meeting in Virginia next week. The reason for this unusual gathering isn't known.
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Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has summoned hundreds of general and admirals from across the globe to a meeting in Virginia. But there's no word on why the highly unusual meeting has been called.
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The U.S. military struck a Venezuelan boat for the second time Monday, killing three people. President Trump says the vessel was carrying drugs to the United States.
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As famine plagues Gaza, NPR exclusive reporting looks at the U.S. role in the humanitarian crisis. Many former officials NPR interviewed share a common refrain: Did we do enough to prevent this?
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As famine plagues Gaza, NPR exclusive reporting looks at the U.S. role in the humanitarian crisis. Many former officials NPR interviewed share a common refrain: Did we do enough to prevent this?
