Rhetorical discussions of right and wrong are a pastime of the political enthusiasts inside the beltway of our capital. In Mosul, Iraq, with bullets whizzing overhead and bombs thundering in the far too close distance, many other issues fill the point of focus and become the discussion of every day life.
The Colorado Springs Gazette’s military reporter and Saturday editor, Tom Roeder, had his own ideas of how he thought war and conflict should be covered and in 2004 he boarded a plane bound for Baghdad so he could put his ideas to the test.
“When the war first began, we had a different team over there,” Roeder said. “The war was new and they were covering it from that perspective. I had some different ideas of how to do that.”
Roeder’s divergent approach to reporting from the war zone abandoned traditional journalistic models and retrained the focus to the human side of the conflict. Having strong roots in the military community of Colorado Springs, Roeder initiated a blog on the Gazette’s website to connect readers with their loved-ones that were deployed in Iraq.
“When you’re their hometown paper coming to cover you, they’re a lot more open than they are to the New York Times coming to cover ‘war,’” Roeder said. Because you have a worm’s eye view of the war, you can bring out the individual stories of the soldier. Being an embed [embedded journalist] is a horrible way to cover war, but a great way to cover people . . . and what the average GI goes through. What is a combat patrol like? Where are they living?”
Luckily for Roeder, he writes for the Gazette, not the Times and he enjoys the opportunity to provide a very different angle of coverage of the war.
“I worked with an editor that was a veteran military reporter so she had a good idea of what I was walking in to,” Roeder said. “She was very supportive of what I was doing.”
Soldiers connected to Roeder through his previous service as Petty Officer in the “Jamaican Navy” – more properly known as the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve.
Readers could connect with Roeder and learn not just how their husband or sister’s unit was doing, but in many cases, they could get direct, personal accounts of what their loved-one was working on. The comments on his posts demonstrate the appreciation the community has shown for his efforts.
While his readership was generous with gratitude for his reporting, some of his posts led to outrage back home. When Roeder exposed the disparity in living conditions between the well-fortified Camp Victory and the muddy camp in Taji, military families were quick to question why their son or daughter was stuck in a mud pit while others enjoyed more western living standards.
“Conditions are not what people think they are down range,” Maj. Mike Humphreys said. “These bases were like cities. There were western style hospitals and medical care. You didn’t hear anything. It was like being on Ft. Carson.”
Maj. Humphreys is charged with coordinating public affairs for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team in the 4th Infantry Division of the Army. It is his duty to ensure the soldiers have the information required to fulfill their duties, to handle media requests from news organizations and to assist with community relations, as necessary.
Thus, Maj. Humphreys and Mr. Roeder would cross paths many times in Iraq. Maj. Humphreys helped ensure Roeder was in the right place to obtain the coverage he desired and he enjoyed having him along to report on the work of his men.
“When we get the big names coming in, we get the hand in the face when we try to get them to stay in the area and spend the time necessary to properly cover units that are scattered across 300 miles in 13 different bases,” Maj. Humphreys said. “It just doesn’t work that way.”
Roeder got to Taji, made camp in the mud and took a seat playing cards and talking with the soldiers he had come to know back home at Fort Carson.
“My first day at Taji, it snowed,” Roeder said. “Baghdad hadn’t seen snow in five decades. Luckily I’d been covering this unit for years so I knew all of the people involved.”
It was never Roeder’s mission to delve into the politics that surround Operation Iraqi Freedom. Instead, he was in Iraq to provide a different insight into how a war is fought.
Sgt. Andrew Gordon of the 1st Infantry Division of the 8th Battalion was an appreciative veteran that had Roeder stationed with his unit in Balad, Iraq.
“I think he’s one of the better ones I’ve seen over there,” Sgt. Gordon said. “He’s one of the few people I’ve met that doesn’t care about this side or the other, he just pulls the story out straight.”
Maj. Humphreys, who has seen two tours in Iraq, dealt with many reporters that had different inspirations than Roeder.
“When hostilities broke out, everyone wanted to get into Sadr City and get a story on it,” Maj. Humphreys said. “Some reporters were not willing to negotiate and it is not possible to get someone in and out in a day. We had a rule that you must spend at least three days in Sadr City. We also rotated them out on the fourth day so we were not overloaded and reporters could all get access to the area.”
The battle for the big story could get quite heated for Maj. Humphreys. Ensuring reporters safety and security were only the first issues he faced.
“At times you get agencies making requests that you simply can’t provide them and I have to say ‘sorry, its simply not going on here,’” Maj. Humphreys said. “Tom and I have had our differences too and we’ve had our falling outs . . . but I’m very appreciative of what Tom does.”
In addition to working with western media, Maj. Humphreys also worked to build the local press corp of Iraq. He explained to locals through interpreters the motives of the Coalition Forces and how they were accomplishing these goals.
Roeder’s unique approach has earned attention beyond the soldiers he reports on. In 2004, the Colorado Press Association awarded him and photographer David Bitton their top award for their work. He would be returning to Iraq if it weren’t for the poor economy’s impact on the Gazette’s budget. He also wants to see Afghanistan and report on the troops’ progress there.
“We were headed to Iraq earlier this year but we had to turn down that trip. The insurance for a trip is $32,000 alone. That’s a body, that’s a job and in this economy, you really have to think about that.”
But Roeder’s passion is for reporting and he does not equivocate his desires.
“If I were in charge here, I would spend a lot more time over there.”
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