UMANS HAVEWRITTENABOUT WARSINCE THE BE-

CiINNINCi OF CIVILIZATION.Descriptions of battles areetched on Egyptian templewalls, and the Assyrians of-fered detailed battle reports tothe god at the Temple of Assur.The first true war reporter, sayhistorians, might have beenThucydides, a Greek generaland historian who wrote a com-prehensive, firsthand accountof the Spartan attack on Amphipolis, in whichhe refers to himself in the third person.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistanhave thrust war correspondents intothe spotlight to a degree not seensince Vietnam. The result has beena sometimes-skewed public percep-tion of the men and women behindthe pen: Some believe war report-ers are willing mouthpieces for themilitary, while others believe theyhave an established antimilitary/antiwar bias.

According to journalists on thefront lines, neither assessment isaccurate. The majority of war re-porters, they say, are searching forthe truth in an ongoing story thatis dangerous, vastly complex, andever-changing.

"I'm always trying to explain asbest I can the larger, more strate-gic sense of what's going on," saysMichael Gordon, chief military cor-respondent for The New York Times.

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"I'm always trying to address abroader question."

Facts and analysisJournalists cover war because it'san important story, sometimes themost important story of a generation.There's a lot to cover: who's fightingand why, the run-up to engagement,specific battles, daily activities ofthose doing the fighting, what the warmeans nationally and internationally,and - perhaps even more important- what it means locally. Melding factswith the analysis necessary to putthose facts into perspective is a vitalpart of every war reporter's job.

"Very soon after I started cover-ing the military, I realized there wasa disconnect between the public'sunderstanding and perception of themilitary and what it actually did, aswell as what it meant for people to

be in combat;' says Ann Scott Tyson,who has covered Afghanistan andIraq for The Christian Science Monitorand The Washington Post. "I realizedI could play the role of translator be-tween these two worlds, and I felt itwas critical because the public needsto make decisions, ultimately, andkeep the government accountable forhow [military] forces are used."

In 2009, Scott Detrow, a reporterwith radio station WITF in Harris-

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burg, Pa., followed from start to fin-ish the deployment of a PennsylvaniaNational Guard brigade based atFort Indiantown Gap. Detrow spenta month in Iraq bouncing from oneunit to another, getting to know thesoldiers and telling their stories tolisteners back home.

"We got a lot of positive response,both from people with ties to thesoldiers and people who heard aboutit through our station," Detrow says."I came away with a lot of respectfor what these guys were doing

over there and theday-to-day mis-sions they had tocarry out."

Embeddingoffers accessReporters suchas Detrow, Gor-don, and Tysonfrequently embed

Sb.v.of Combat JournalismCombat reportage in the U.S. dates back to the Revolutionary War, when localbattles between colonists and the British military. Few papers had ~news usually was secondhand and frequently inaccurate. Historians SU9ge$tJames Bradford, a Louisiana newspaper editor and publisher who coVeredthe War of 1812 by enlisting with Gen. Andrew Jackson.

By the CivilWar, reporters were more than willing to follow soldiers ontothe battlefield. An estimated 500 journalists covered the four-yearwith many of the major newspapers devoting tremendous resourtel tostory. The New York Herald, for example, had a total of 63 writerS reing from the field.

World War IIproved the value of embedded journalists, with the likes'of Scripps-Howard columnist Ernie Pyle (right) and Time MagaziflflUJrJorespondent BillWalton reporting from the front lines. Though theil"ielXHltssometimes were censored by the military, they managed to convey bothhorror of war and the courage of the men and women fighting it. The joua:-nalistic value of embedding, as well as of unrestricted independent ~t

ing, continued with coverage of the Vietnam War.

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with military units in Afghanistanand Iraq, often for extended periods.Embedding gives journalists accessto the people doing the fighting, aswell as an up-close perspective oneach conflict. Embedding also bringscorrespondents closer to Iraqi andAfghan military officials and civilians,who are essential to the overall story.

Gordon has embedded with nu-merous units throughout Iraq, andhe admits it often takes time forsoldiers and Marines to feel comfort-able having a reporter among themas they do their jobs.

"Sometimes they take their cuefrom the commander, so if the com-mander says, 'This guy is from TheNew York Times, he's trustworthy,'that can make a difference," Gordonsays. "But in this day and age, theseguys can access your stories onlineand get a sense of whether they thinkyou're being fair. I tell them I'm notgoing to pull any punches; I'm notgoing to write propaganda or pressreleases, but I'm also not going !otake any cheap shots. And I try to befair and accurate."

Tyson agrees. "I always knew I hadto prove myself each time," she saysof her multiple embeds. "I did that byshowing them that I could observeand listen without interfering. Mygoal was almost to make [the troops]forget I was there."

Chris Chivers, also with The NewYork Times, is unusual among war re-porters today in that he was an infan-try officer in theMarine Corpsbefore becominga journalist. Hesays his militarybackgroundgives him a bet-ter understand-ing of tacticsand weapons,but it also canbe a sourceof frustration.

"I know the bureaucracy andsome of the more annoying person-ality types in the military, and mytolerance of the nonsense is evenless than what it was when I served,"Chivers explains. "I keep quiet aboutthese things while on the job, andthey almost always evaporate thefurther out in the field we go and thelower we go in the hierarchy." tective gear - including a Kevlar

helmet, body armor, and eye protec-tion - and haul their own supplies. -No one receives special treatment;it's understood the military willprovide little except perhaps food

A challenging postThe logistics of covering a war canbe daunting. Combat reporters areexpected to supply their own pro-

'_:Advisors Share Their ViewsMOAAsurveyed members of its MOAAAdvisors program for their thoughts on the media andcombat. Reponses varied widely, with 12.6 percent of collected responses indicating reportersshould "have complete access and report what they see" and a nearly equal number indicat-ing reporters "have no business in a combat zone." Most respondents (53.7 percent) agreedthe media "should be governed by strict security rules." "Free press is important; commentedCW03 Tracey C. Roberts, USA-Ret., "but not when it compromises classified Information."

MOAAAdvisors are association members who've agreed to contribute their opinions onsubjects important to military officers. To learn more, visit www.moaa.org/advisor.

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and transportation. Once in country,journalists face many of the samechallenges as the servicemembersthey're covering, whether it be get-ting from Point A to Point B, keep-ing a computer and satellite phoneclean and charged, or dealing withheat that can exceed 110degrees inthe summer.

Journalists also share the loneli-ness of being away from family.Tysoncalled her four children every day soshe could stay involved in their dailylives. She says they understood thenecessity of her overseas work andcame away the better for it. Her eldestson wrote his college application essayabout his reaction to an encounterTyson had in Iraq and his realization

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that "the other students had their eyesclosed, and mine were wide open,"

"It was almost as if he was respond-ing as the child of a guard [member] orreservist would," Tyson recalls.

There's also the inherent dangerof the job. According to the Com-mittee to Protect Journalists, since2003, scores of international jour-nalists and their support staff havebeen killed or injured in Iraq andAfghanistan while performing theirjobs. Among them are Bob Woodruffof ABC and Kimberly Dozier of CBS,both of whom were severely injuredin separate bomb attacks.

Gordon and Tyson both have beenin convoys attacked with IEDs andhave witnessed people being killed.

"You can't help but be affected,"says Gordon, who has received mes-sages - both angry and grateful -from the families of dead soldiershe's written about. Tyson has criedwith soldiers and Marines follow-ing the death of a comrade and heldtheir hands late at night as emotionsspilled. She also has experiencedsurvivor's guilt. "I think what hashelped me is having a few goodfriends in the military that I can

talk to who I knowwill understandwhat I have gonethrough," she says.

A complexrelationshipThe relationshipbetween warriorand journalistis both complexand essential tothe total coveragewar demands.

"I think greatstrides have beenmade in the un-derstanding ofhow the militaryworks and howreporters work,

although their goals will always beat odds," Tyson says. "The ultimateobjective of the military wouldprobably be to have the media assome sort of arm of its informationoperations," she elaborates, "andthe ultimate goal of the journalistwould be to have the military becompletely open regarding everydetail of its operation. There will al-ways be tension because that won'thappen. But to the extent that therecan be maximum cooperation, ev-eryone - particularly the Americanpublic - will benefit." MO

- Don Vaughan is a freelance writerbased in North Carolina. His last articlefor Military Officer was "Beasts ofBattle," June 2010.

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