12/25: A Ukrainian soldier at a checkpoint near Debaltseve. Note the tourniquet next to the radio. He is also wearing a plate carrier with no Kevlar. (Photo Credit: James Sprankle)

KYIV, UKRAINE — For the last three months, I have been living in Ukraine and covering the war in Donbass as a photojournalist.

I arrived in Kyiv on December 10. So far, my time in Ukraine has taught me a tremendous amount about … well, all sorts of things. It’s fair to say that I am a beginner in the conflict zone, but even though I’m new to this line of work, I think I’ve learned a few things that could prove valuable to others considering their first trip to a war zone.

→ Read the complete NSZ guide here

TSA gun confiscations up 21% so far this year

CHICAGO — The number of handguns confiscated at the nation’s airport security checkpoints was up 21% through May 1 compared to a year ago — and 45% compared to 2012, a National Security Zone analysis of Transportation Security Administration data it maintains shows.

Also trending up in the first part of the year: The percentage of guns that were loaded and that had a bullet in the chamber when they were discovered in carry-ons or on the passenger. Some 85% of guns were loaded compared to 82% a year ago, and 30% had a bullet in the chamber, up from 25% in the first part of 2013.

A 56% increase in confiscations at Dallas-Forth Worth’s airport pushed Atlanta from atop the list of airports witH the most guns found (42 compared to 27 a year ago). One woman in Dallas in February actually made it past the security checkpoint with a gun.

Tampa, San Antonio, Charlotte, Miami, Detroit and Austin also had large increases, while two airports jumped from 1 confiscation each last year to 13 and 10 each (Portland and Kansas City, respectively)

→ FULL STORY, including stats for top airports.

WASHINGTON – University of Chicago First Amendment scholar Geoffrey Stone was not expecting unanimity among the group of five experts called together by President Barack Obama to review the National Security Agency’s collection of vast amounts of phone records and other digital information of millions of Americans.

Stone said the fact that the group could present recommendations fully supported by all members gave extra weight to their report. The review group recommended that that phone companies or a private third party maintain the data needed by the NSA rather than the NSA itself and that access be allowed only by a court order.

In a video interview with Medill National Security Zone, Stone detailed key points from the recommendations.

WATCH WEBINARS ON VETERANS AND CYBER CRIME

• Alexander Deitchman and and Paul Knudtson discuss “Veterans as Strategic Assets.” Watch here.
• Paul Rosenzweig helps reporters better understand cyber crime how much money and intellectual property are we losing and what it means, as well as how governments can coordinate to fight it. Watch here.

josh meyer moderates war reporting talk at University of Chicago institute of politics

Didn’t make it out to the event, featuring NBC’s Richard Engel and The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson in conversation with Medill National Security Journalism Initiative Director of Education and Outreach Josh Meyer?

• Watch event video here

NSJI STUDENTS TOUR NATIONAL WAR COLLEGE

The National War College  in Washington opened its doors to students from the Medill NSJI on May 19.

• Peek inside the school

medill nSJI students embed at twentynine palms

Students from Medill’s National Security Journalism Specialization program embedded with United States Marines at the Twentynine Palms base in California’s Mojave Desert.

• Training for war with virtual combat
• Front-line training with the howitzer
• Marines prepare for the theater of war
• NSJI students embed with Marines
• Marines make millions off of recycling
• Best Training, But Worst Social Life
• USMC Archaeological Treasure Trove

Finding and analyzing VA disability claims data

Our latest NSZ 101 how-go guide helps get you started in your pursuit of good local, state, regional and national stories that are to be had in data about the enormous backlog of disability claims filed with the Veterans Benefits Administration.

If you’ve got basic Excel skills, get started here. And even if you don’t, you’ll find information and data that you can use from our expert, Shane Shifflett.

On the Beat

The latest headlines from On The National Security Beat, Scott Anderson’s column that provides fresh tips, news and resources to help national security reporters excel on their beats.

• Apple first to report number of secret customer data requests under new reporting rules.
• For Verizon, a solid grade on its first transparency report.
• Suicides jump among young male veterans; sexual assaults down at military academies, new reports say.
• Weekly VA disability claims snapshot: Backslide is back
• Putting the secret in an investigation of the Secret Service
• Toles ‘toon on data ‘mining’
• VA disability backlog grows for second week in a row.
• Preparing for a local disaster

Learn how to be secure as a journalist in a hostile environment

About 1,000 journalists around the world have been killed in the line of duty in the past two decades; the pie chart above shows a breakdown of the situations in which they perished, according to data from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Journalists need to take responsibility for their own security. The changing economy of the news business makes it increasingly harder for journalists to rely on security advisors.

Instead, both international and local journalists need to assess their own risks and needs in advance of embarking on a dangerous story.

“Journalists need to take responsibility for their own security. The changing economy of the news business makes it increasingly harder for journalists to rely on security advisors. Instead, both international and local journalists need to assess their own risks and needs in advance of embarking on a dangerous story,” security expert Frank Smyth says.

In our latest “NSZ 101” how-to guide for reporters, security expert Smyth offers a comprehensive look at how to prepare to visit a hostile situation and how to go about your business while there, and deal with the stress of what you’ve been through once you’re home. → Read the full guide.