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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The review, outlined in a Pentagon memo obtained by NPR, comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told admirals and generals in September that women must meet the "highest male standard." -
A forthcoming inspector general report finds that had intel shared by Hegseth been intercepted by an adversary, it would have endangered servicemembers, according to a source who viewed the findings. -
In the face of charges that these strikes amount to execution without trial, the White House is sending a confusing message about who exactly gave each order to use deadly force. -
Documents show the U.S. military is planning to sever all ties with the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts. -
During the speech last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lectured senior military officials on the "warrior ethos," focusing on fitness and grooming standards, and calling out "fat generals." -
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. -
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? -
The State Department has shuttered the team involved in South China Sea security, getting rid of top experts on the subject at a time when the administration says security in the region is a priority. -
NPR has learned that the Pentagon has also approved the expansion of the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for the same purpose. -
The Pentagon and U.S. military officials in Europe are working with NATO members to ship more Patriot missile systems to Ukraine and release more munitions that were briefly halted.
