Tom Vanden Brook spoke to NPF Paul Miller Washington Reporting fellows June 5, 2023: “A Deep Dive into Defense Reporting.”

Tom Vanden Brook has covered the Pentagon for USA Today since 2006. Winner of the 2015 Scripps Howard Award for Public Service Reporting and 2008 Finalist for the Michael Kelly Award. Reporting helped launch Pentagon’s $45 billion effort to protect troops from IEDs, changed federal law to prohibit conflicts of interest among retired generals and admirals advising the Pentagon and prompted the acting Defense Secretary to resign. Reporting on suicide among soldiers posted to Alaska spurred Congress and the Pentagon to send 50 counselors to the state and improve living conditions there. He has a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.