The awards, for work published or aired in 2011, were be presented at the 2012 MRE Conference on October 19 in Washington, DC. Complete agenda.

Joe Galloway Award

WINNER: Wounded Warriors series by Carl Prine of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Using Defense Department documents to bolster the rest of his in-depth reporting, Carl Prine showed us in detail that many soldiers suffering physically or mentally from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were getting little help from the Warrior Transition units that were stood up to help them Prine shows that some military leaders used the units as dumping grounds for drug addicts and malingerers rather than for those who truly needed help.

 Print — Domestic Coverage, large market

WINNER: “The Secret War,” by Sean Naylor of Army Times.

This series of stories about American commandos and Intelligence agents working to block terrorists in the Horn of Africa was so dramatically written that readers feel like they are on the Navy submersibles and in the field in this covert war on al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The stories are the result of a six-month drawing on classified information and expertise of special operations members, military leaders and diplomats.

Print — Domestic Coverage, small market

WINNER: “The Lost Platoon,” by Adam Ashton of The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash.

Ashton was able to get a classified report on the Army’s investigation of the so-called Stryker “kill team” at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a dozen of whose members were prosecuted in the murders of Afghan civilians in Kandahar. His reporting found that the former brigade commander was out of step with Army strategy, the platoon’s leader posed for a photo with an Afghan corpse, “kill team” ringleader Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs used tough talk and grisly war stories to influence the young soldiers and officers up the chain of command failed to connect the dots about the platoon’s misconduct.

HONORABLE MENTION: “Long Road Home,” by John Ramsey of The Fayetteville Observer in North Carolina

Print — Overseas Coverage, small market

WINNER: Andrew Brooks, The Fayetteville Observer.

Andrew Brooks’ range of stories from domestic military bases to embeds with units overseas displayed an interest and concern for all aspects of the American military story. Concern about bombings, ambushes and hijacking infused the last days of the troops and Brooks expertly captured their fears and hopes. Even more, Brooks detailed the important issues facing troops returning from overseas and current veterans, including those who face unemployment and homelessness.

HONORABLE MENTION: Steve Ranson, Lahontan Valley (Nev.) News.

Print — Overseas Coverage, large market

WINNER: Rebecca Santana, Associated Press

Rebecca Santana provided a keen sense of place and mood as she traveled with the last official contingent of American troops as they prepared to leave Iraq and the conflict that began nine years earlier. Santana, who was the AP’s bureau chief in Baghdad for the final two years of the war, wrote with insight and sophistication not only about the internal political issues facing Iraq but also about the brutal realities of life for U.S. soldiers in that country. Whether describing the remains of Saddam Hussein’s palaces, relating how soldiers slept with their shoes on to avoid cutting their feet under rocket fire or describing the concrete blast walls as high as basketball hoops, Santana gave readers a portrait of life in a country that for decades has known repression and then fighting and occupation.

HONORABLE MENTION: Kristin Hall, Associated Press

Online Video — Overseas Coverage

WINNER: “The Horse Soldiers of 9/11,” by Alex Quade, Freelance War Reporter

Alex Quade reported and produced an enterprising and singular short documentary about Special Operations Forces that made the first secret forays into Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks on American soil. Quade’s video, “The Horse Soldiers of 9/11,” interviewed four of the commandos who traveled by horseback to call in airstrikes and synchronize AC-130 gunship attacks with  tribal warfare against Taliban and al-Qaida forces in northern Afghanistan. The six-minute video, with on-camera interviews of the Special Operations team, described their journey and the eventual recognition they and others received in this country with a monument to their mission. Quade’s persistence and resourcefulness in first finding and then convincing these warriors to be interviewed years after the event is evidence of her insight into military reporting and to her own tenacity.

Online

WINNER: “Lost Warriors,” StarTribune.com. Reporter Mark Brunswick, Photographer Jim Gehrz and Producer/Editor Jenni Pinkley.

A powerful, detailed look in text, video and photos at suicides among troops serving, preparing to serve or who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The package noted that more soldiers died by suicide in 2010 than died in battle, and Minnesota had among the highest rates. Lost Warriors ambitiously used video packages to powerfully envelop the reader with the sounds and images and nuance that bring a deeper and more meaningful experience and understanding of the impact than words could alone. The package examined the frustrations families found in trying to get information from the military about those who took their lives, and how the Army “often misses red flags regarding the mental health of its soldiers or doesn’t adequately address such cases after they come to light.”

HONORABLE MENTION: “The War at Home,” CNN.com. Reporter Moni Basu, Editor Jan Winburn, Video Producer Rich Addicks, Web Design, Sean O’Key.

Blogging

WINNER:  Randy Brown, RedBullRising.com

Randy Brown clearly is not one of those bloggers who sits at home in his pajamas. You’ll find the 20-year Iowa Army National Guardsman-turned-civilian journalist out in the community — and out on the battlefield in Afghanistan. In his entries — one chronicling a homecoming for troops and the second, an embed in Afghanistan — Brown showed he’s a down-home storyteller and conversationalist. You could almost hear him talking to you as you read. He had a wry, friendly, sometimes corny sense of humor, a deft touch for detail; insider insight and knowledge; a tender touch with conveying emotion without getting sappy; and a way of getting to the bottom of things.

Judges
Judges were: Medill Professor Ellen Shearer, co-director of the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative; Medill lecturer Timothy McNulty, co-director of Medill National Security Journalism Initiative; and Medill Assistant Professor Scott Anderson, interactive editor, Medill National Security Journalism Initiative.

Book co-authored by NSJI's Josh Meyer

A new book from Josh Meyer of the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative is “a gripping tale of international intrigue and a compelling portrait of one of the most evil men in history,” its publisher promises. “The Hunt for KSM reads like a thriller but is all too real. It provides a window into the deep dysfunction that plagued the intelligence community before and after 9/11.”

Meyer and co-author Terry McDermott say Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the focus of the book, “is the prototype of the modern, stateless enemy likely to haunt the United States for decades to come.”

Meyer began covering terrorism a year before 9/11, while a reporter at the Los Angeles Times. He is now director of education and outreach for the NSJI in Washington. McDermott was also a Los Angeles Times reporter, serving as national correspondent. He is the author of Perfect Soldiers and 101 Theory Drive.

The Khalid Sheikh Mohammed case is still important, McDermott and Meyer say, because “U.S. foreign and security policies have undergone huge transformation because of 9/11. Assessing whether those changes were appropriate-or too much or too little-will occupy policy makers for a long time. Some of the institutional problems that allowed to plot and attack for so long remain in place. And the specific way in which and his cohorts were handled has affected U.S. standing in the world, especially in the Islamic world, and diluted the country’s ability to argue against other country’s judicial and human rights abuses.”

Full press kit on the book is below. Click arrow at upper right to view full-screen.

[field name=”ksm”]

The project, called Hidden Surge, found that many have been hastily channeled through a post-deployment process that has been plagued with difficulties, including reliance on self-reporting to identify health problems. These service members face unique challenges and report higher rates of some mental health problems and related ills than active-duty troops.

Work by a team of 10 students in Medill’s graduate journalism program was published Feb. 15 in The Washington Post and is available on the Medill’s Hidden Surge site.  Students interviewed more than 80 current and former military and health officials and experts, and National Guard and Reserve troops and their families, and reviewed scores of official documents and reports. They traveled to military bases, National Guard installations and medical centers in nine states to do on-the-ground reporting.

“Reporting from military bases and other locations from Montana to Missouri and from New Mexico to North Carolina, the Medill students have done a real public service,  delivering a well-reported and well-told examination of an issue that is only now being fully acknowledged by the military,’’  said Medill faculty member Josh Meyer, who directed the project and reported on national security for the Los Angeles Times for 20 years.

The students’ research and interviews with current and former officials suggest that attempts by Congress, the military and private contractors to address the problems have been uncoordinated and often ineffective. That includes efforts to provide the kind of comprehensive medical care and support networks that help diagnose what military leaders call the signature wounds of the post-9/11 conflicts — post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

Reservists lack access to the system or networks that experts say are needed to assess and treat their injuries. After brief demobilization assessments, reserve troops return home and must navigate disparate health-care and support providers, often without the psychological safety net that comes from living near members of their unit.

“The National Guard faces unique challenges compared to our active-duty counterparts,” acknowledged Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, which is responsible for administering the guard’s 54 state and territorial units. He said the Obama administration is redoubling efforts to address resulting problems, including substance abuse, depression, PTSD and suicide.

The Findings

• The guard and reserve have been hit particularly hard by mental health issues. From September 2010 to August 2011, post-deployment health reassessment screenings found nearly 17 out of every 100 returning reservists had mental health problems serious enough for follow up. They are 55 percent more likely than active-component service members to have such problems.
• Because of screening lapses, reserve soldiers were sent overseas who should not have been, including some with behavioral problems that could become aggravated by the stress of combat and lead to depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and even suicide.
• Private contractors are responsible for much of the pre- and post-deployment screening; the latest multi-year “readiness’’ contract proposal is estimated to be worth about $1 billion. Despite the public funding, they are not required to provide any kind of comprehensive public reporting on their efforts and whether they are successful.
• Congress has not been aggressive in addressing the reserve health issues. In December, Sen.  Ron Wyden, D-Ore., couldn’t get enough support to even require the Pentagon to study his proposal to ease the transition of reserve troops by giving them more time and resources on their way home.

“The students’ imaginative use of video storytelling and interactive graphics, as well as traditional narrative,  to present their work showcases their understanding of the need to find new ways to engage people and keep them informed on important issues like national security,” said faculty member Ellen Shearer, co-director of the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative and director of the Medill Washington Program.

The students learned sophisticated interactive storytelling approaches with the help of Kat Downs, interactive projects editor at The Washington Post and Greg Linch, the Post’s world and national security producer.

An annual initiative

The Hidden Surge project is the second in a series of annual investigations that are part of Medill’s broader National Security Journalism Initiative which is funded by the McCormick Foundation. The first project, Global Warning,  examined the threat posed to national security by climate change. It garnered international attention and won a national award from the Online News Association.

The National Security Journalism Initiative is unique in journalism education. It comprises undergraduate and graduate classes at Medill in Chicago and Washington; research and reporting projects; and resources and training that provide students and working journalists with the knowledge and skills necessary to report accurately and with context on issues related to defense, security and civil liberties.

[field name=”vid”]