1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"Invisible Soldiers" by Bob Drury, edited by Leah Flickinger.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
May 10, 2010.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
The U.S. Defense Department specifically prohibits women from direct combat missions. But in the Iraq and Afghanistan combat zones, there are no front lines, and as Bob Drury writes in Invisible Soldiers, "the piece of ground you occupy can, at any moment, turn into a battlefield." Thus for the first time in U.S. history, women soldiers are facing the same dangers as men — but unlike their male counterparts, they come home to a society that can't comprehend what they've been through and an outdated veterans' support system that's scrambling to meet their needs. With vivid scenes and scathing personal stories from three women who served, this article describes the alarming affects of post-traumatic stress disorder on female soldiers (and how it's been under-studied by the military); the physical and mental fallout from the isolation and sexual harassment of these women by the fellow soldiers who are supposed to have their backs; the vast and devastating healthcare insufficiencies that female soldiers have to deal with on their return to the U.S.; and the hardships that creates for them as they try to reclaim their physical and mental health and rebuild their lives. Drury's conclusion: With more than 26,000 women warriors diagnosed with serious mental-health issues, and a 17 percent rate of military sexual trauma among female veterans, it's time for the Department of Veteran's Affairs to step up and make sure their needs are met.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Drury scoured the web for research, digging into both public and private reports and white papers, including Rand Corporation studies; reports from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America; official Pentagon overviews; and in-house Congressional research done by the likes of Senator Patty Murray of Washington.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
He spoke in person or via telephone to at least a dozen sources, both experts in the field and female soldiers and veterans. And then he interviewed at least another 15 or 20 people before settling on the three female veterans that were the main protagonists of the piece.
6. Results (if any).
Women's Health was one of the first magazines to cover this topic in-depth; in fact, we beat out Time, National Public Radio, and O Magazine, all of which came out with similar stories in the months following ours. Another result: WH received many letters from female soldiers who were immensely grateful that their stories were being told.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
From Bob Drury: "Nail down your first source, whether it's an expert or a protagonist– and follow the bread crumbs. Somebody always knows somebody who knows somebody∨ at least has heard of somebody related to the topic of your article."