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.
-
As questions swirl around the fate of the secretary of defense, former colleagues paint a troubling picture of Hegseth's Pentagon. -
The Defense Department has announced new senior level positions after recent firings and resignations. But with Pentagon head Pete Hegseth under fire for missteps, the way ahead is still unclear. -
NPR correspondents recap how funding cuts, layoffs and leadership and policy changes in the second Trump administration are affecting the Departments of Defense, State and Health and Human Services.
-
Military lawyers question Pentagon head Pete Hegseth's defense that he didn't share anything revealing in Signal chat group with his wife and brother. -
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continues to find himself in controversy. He shared details with his wife and brother minutes after being updated on the Yemen strikes by a senior military official.
-
This comes as Hegseth is again mired in controversy over sharing military operational details in a group chat. -
Books "overtly promoting DEI, gender ideology, and critical race theory" are under new scrutiny following a memo issued by acting Assistant Secretary of the Army Derrick Anderson. -
The Senate voted around 2 a.m. Friday to confirm retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trump plucked him from retirement to be his top military adviser. -
A decorated combat vet now faces deportation to his home country of Venezuela. Jose Barcos' story is one of battlefield trauma, bureaucratic bumbling and eventually a serious crime.
-
An NPR exclusive: Deportation proceedings are underway for Jose Barco, an Iraq War veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart. Barco came to the U.S. as a child, enlisted as a teenager, and, after his discharge, was convicted of a felony. Immediately after being paroled in January, he was remanded to ICE custody, where he has remained since. Read more. This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, immigration policy reporter Ximena Bustillo, and defense correspondent Tom Bowman. The podcast is produced by Bria Suggs & Kelli Wessinger and edited by Casey Morell. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
