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Tom Bowman

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Tom Bowman is a NPR National Desk reporter covering the Pentagon.

In his current role, Bowman has traveled to 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., and thrived amid the deadlines, the competition, and the personalities both at a newspaper and in the political realm. Bowman 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.

Over his career, Bowman has been honored with several awards for news writing and features, from the New England Press Association and the Maryland Press Association. He is also 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, Bowman 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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Parallels
2:20 am
Fri June 14, 2013

Friction Among Afghans A Threat To Post-U.S. Mission

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Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A soldier from the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, Manchus, looks toward the tree line through his rifle scope while on a foot patrol to visit Afghan Local Police in the Panjwai District of Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. Panjwai is one of the most dangerous districts in Afghanistan.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A soldier is careful to follow the line that has been checked for roadside bombs while on a foot patrol in Panjwai. IEDs are a major problem in the area, particularly in areas where Americans have handed responsibility over to Afghan security forces.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Soldiers help one another off the mud brick wall of a compound while visiting an Afghan Local Police outpost in Panjwai. As American troops draw down in Afghanistan, they are relying more and more on the Afghans to take over security duties.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Villagers discuss their grievances with members of the Afghan Local Police and the U.S. military. American soldiers are preparing to hand security responsibilities for the district over to the Afghan army and police. Panjwai is very conservative, and the Taliban use it as a place to organize fighters for attacks against international forces.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A member of the Afghan Local Police fears he will be beheaded by the Taliban when the Americans leave the area.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
The Americans are turning over what one general calls "festering sores," including the birthplace of the Taliban, Panjwai.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A villager visits an Afghan local police outpost in Panjwai. The area is home to pomegranate, grape and wheat farmers, and has traditionally been sympathetic to the Taliban insurgency.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
The horn of Panjwai is still littered with homemade bombs.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
One of two men detained by Afghan National Army soldiers and accused of being bomb-makers. He maintains he is a religious student and not a terrorist.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
An Afghan National Army soldier loads evidence into a plastic bag. The materials, including what appeared to be triggers and IED plans, were found in the vests of two men arrested as Taliban bomb-makers.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
A man detained by the Afghan National Army as an accused Taliban bomb-maker stands by as Afghan and American soldiers look through his belongings at Forward Operating Base Zangabad in Panjwai.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
When American forces leave the Panjwai area in November, Afghan security forces will have to find a way to work together across the spectrum of local and national forces.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
When American forces leave the Panjwai area in November, Afghan security forces will have to find a way to work together across the spectrum of local and national forces. If they don't, the Taliban will continue to find a safe haven and mount attacks on Kandahar.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Lt. Col. Gary King is the top U.S. trainer working with Afghan National Army in the Panjwai district of Kandahar. He says he's hopeful that if the Afghan leadership can allocate the right resources to the area, a basic stability can be maintained.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Lt. Col. Gary King is the top U.S. trainer working with the Afghan National Army in the Panjwai district of Kandahar. He says he's hopeful that if the Afghan leadership can allocate the right resources to the area, a basic stability can be maintained.
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Originally published on Fri June 14, 2013 10:21 am

The Afghan farmer in Panjwai District, outside the southern city of Kandahar, is finally fed up with the Taliban.

His name is Abdullah Razik. He's slight, with a trim beard and a dark green shirt that falls below his knees.

The Taliban plant roadside bombs in his fields, he says, and shoot near his house. The area is one of the most dangerous in Afghanistan — the birthplace of the Taliban.

Not long ago, something worse happened, Razik says.

"My friend ... lost his hand," he says. "The Taliban were putting IEDs in my village" four months ago.

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Afghanistan
7:11 am
Tue June 4, 2013

U.S. Worries Afghan Forces Will Divide Along Ethnic Lines

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The American combat mission in Afghanistan will end in 2014. One concern for U.S. officials is the possibility that Afghan security forces will splinter along ethnic lines. The worry then is that those troops will start taking orders from warlords.

Parallels
2:44 am
Tue June 4, 2013

With U.S. Forces On Their Way Out, Afghans Take The Lead

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Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Villagers in Kasan gather to meet with Afghan local police and the Afghan National Army along with ANASF team members during a morning shura to discuss security.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
An Afghan National Army Special Forces soldier rides on the back of a Green Beret vehicle near the village of Kasan, in Wardak province. As American forces are drawing down in Afghanistan, they are increasingly relying on Afghan forces to take the lead, especially more elite forces like the ANASF who are trained by U.S. Army Special Forces.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Afghan National Army Special Forces keep a watchful eye on a potential ambush area while a herd of sheep and goats passes by during a patrol into Kasan. The U.S. Army Green Berets along with the ANASF have been training Afghan local police to take the lead in their village stability and security.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Capt. Nasir (center) talks with members of Green Berets before a shura in Kasan. The mission of the Green Berets and ANASF is to recruit more Afghan local police to act as an armed neighborhood watch that will serve as the first line of defense against the Taliban.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
ANASF soldiers hold down a position as other members of their team patrol nearby. Taliban forces have traditionally used the area as an infiltration route and staging area because of its proximity to Kabul, which is about an hour away.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
U.S. Green Berets patrol up a flooded stream with ANASF.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Villagers in Kasan gather to meet with Afghan local police and the Afghan National Army along with ANASF team members during a morning shura to discuss security.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Afghan National Army soldiers search a group of men near Kasan while local elders and local police hold a shura to discuss security.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
An ANASF soldier talks with a regular army soldier while on a patrol in the village of Kasan.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
U.S. Green Berets patrol with Afghan National Army special forces outside the village of Kasan, in Wardak province. The Green Berets along with the ANASF have been training Afghan local police to take the lead in their village stability and security.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Afghan National Army soldiers search a group of men near the village of Kasan.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Jalrez District Chief of Police Lt. Col. Allahuddin talks with elders and the local police in the village of Kasan during a morning shura to discuss security.
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Originally published on Tue June 4, 2013 5:22 pm

There's just a sliver of light in the eastern sky as the patrol leaves the American compound through a thick metal door.

They scamper across Highway 2, a narrow asphalt road that leads to Kabul, just an hour's drive away — if not for the war. They cross an old graveyard and head toward the silhouette of a tree line, all seen through the eerie green glow of night-vision goggles.

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Parallels
12:33 pm
Thu May 30, 2013

As The Clock Ticks, U.S. Forces Scale Back Afghan Goals

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Credit David Gilkey / NPR
The gray line in the upper left comes from an aerial view of Afghanistan's crucial Highway 1, the main route between Kabul and Kandahar, the two biggest cities. U.S. forces are still working to secure the route which runs through lush farm valleys and the high desert terrain.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Lt. Col. Brad Moses looks out the window of his helicopter while flying south of Kabul. Moses commands all U.S. Army Green Beret teams in eastern Afghanistan. The teams are attempting to shore up security before American forces withdraw.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
An Afghan police commander, Capt. Daoud, talks with U.S. forces at a checkpoint near Sayed Abad, in Wardak province south of Kabul.
Credit David Gilkey / NPR
An Afghan policeman stands on a shipping container that's been turned into a makeshift checkpoint on a road leading into Sayed Abad. The Taliban have been active in the area, and securing the roads remains a major challenge.
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Originally published on Thu May 30, 2013 5:15 pm

As the American military winds down its efforts in Afghanistan, grand plans for nation building are giving way to limited, practical steps: building up the Afghan forces and denying the Taliban key terrain, especially the approaches to Kabul.

About an hour south of the capital Kabul, one Green Beret team returned to a village where American forces had pulled out.

Lt. Col. Brad Moses, who was in the Sayed Abad district four years ago, wandered around the government center and expressed disappointment at the scene.

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Afghanistan
12:55 pm
Mon May 27, 2013

Service Members Observe Memorial Day Through Sweat And Tears

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Credit David Gilkey / NPR
U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Johnson trains at Bagram Air Field for the Memorial Day Murphy, a CrossFit workout honoring a Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan in 2005.
Credit Courtesy of U.S. Military
SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, from Patchogue, N.Y., was killed by enemy forces during a reconnaissance mission in 2005.
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Originally published on Mon May 27, 2013 3:57 pm

At Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Michael Johnson exercises under a long, steel framework set on a wooden platform. It looks like a giant jungle gym. Above his head are pull-up bars and rings. A climbing rope is off to one side.

It's here where he and dozens of other soldiers and sailors will remember the fallen, just after sunrise, on Memorial Day. They'll all take part in a grueling exercise regimen, part of CrossFit, the popular high-intensity workout program.

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Shots - Health News
3:49 pm
Fri May 3, 2013

From Battleground To Boston: Marine Comforts Bombing Survivors

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Credit Oren Dorell for USA Today
Marine Sgt. Maj. Damion Jacobs (left) and Marine Capt. Cam West visit with Boston emergency workers who responded to the bombings at the Boston Marathon.
Credit Courtesy of Semper Fi
Capt. Cam West
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Originally published on Mon May 6, 2013 12:17 pm

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National Security
2:20 am
Tue April 30, 2013

U.S. Faces Fight At Intersection Of Crime And Extremism

Credit Mamadu Alfa Balde / AFP/Getty Images
Gen. Antonio Indjai (left), Guinea-Bissau's army chief of staff, at the funeral of the country's late president, Malam Bacai Sanha, on Jan. 15, 2012. The U.S. says Indjai has been involved in drug trafficking, an allegation he denies. He recently eluded a U.S. sting operation that led to the capture of other officials from his country.
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Originally published on Mon May 6, 2013 2:27 pm

A suspected drug kingpin from the tiny West African nation of Guinea-Bissau was captured on the high seas by agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency earlier this month, brought to Manhattan and is now awaiting trial.

The dramatic sting operation sheds light on what officials say is a growing national security threat: criminal networks teaming up with extremist organizations.

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Politics
3:47 pm
Fri April 26, 2013

Pressure Builds On White House To Intervene In Syria

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Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish. The White House tried to clarify its message on Syria today, saying it is still studying evidence that the government there has used chemical weapons. Here's press secretary Jay Carney.

JAY CARNEY: We are continuing to work to build on the assessments made by the intelligence community. The degrees of confidence here are varying, this is not an airtight case.

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National Security
4:02 pm
Wed April 3, 2013

With Eye On Budget, Hagel Seeks Pentagon Changes

Credit Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks wednesday at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. He warned of deep budget cuts across his department, to put the brakes on spiraling costs and reshape the military for leaner budgets and new challenges.
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Originally published on Wed April 3, 2013 7:50 pm

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, in his first major policy speech, laid out Wednesday how to deal with threats in an era of tight defense budgets.

Hagel has ordered the Pentagon to take a hard look at how many soldiers and sailors it needs and what types of weapons it buys. He says the Pentagon is at war with itself: There are competing and spiraling costs within the military — for aging weapons, and for health and pension benefits for military personnel and retirees.

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National Security
10:02 am
Mon March 25, 2013

As Qualified Men Dwindle, Military Looks For A Few Good Women

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Credit Mark Lennihan / AP
Army recruits perform exercises as part of a demonstration for tourists in front of the military-recruiting station in New York's Times Square.
Credit Scott Olson / Getty Images
Recruits listen to instructions during boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island, S.C., on Feb. 27.
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Originally published on Mon March 25, 2013 9:02 pm

When the Pentagon said earlier this year that it would open ground combat jobs to women, it was cast in terms of giving women equal opportunities in the workplace — the military workplace.

But the move has practical considerations, too. The military needs qualified people to fill its ranks, and it's increasingly harder to find them among men.

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