[Vision2020] A front-seat ride to history

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the Army Times.

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A front-seat ride to history
By Gina Cavallaro 

Last week I turned in my resignation as a senior staff writer for Military Times.

Such a short farewell after more than 11 years in this newsroom, years in which I had unimaginable experiences that have turned into a treasure trove of memories. I have been trusted to represent these newspapers at military places, bases and events all over the world.

I’ve also been trusted by count less officers and enlisted soldiers and Marines to walk into their worlds and participate in their operations, carrying nothing more than a pen and notebook, often replacing a rifleman.

A little more than six months after I started working here as deputy news editor at Army Times, our nation was attacked. I watched it on TV with senior writer Jim Tice. Since then, I have racked up a few miles, met a few people and fired a few weapons. A short accounting of my approxi mately 4,000 days here: I’ve been on: 

■ Seven deployments to Iraq, including two VIP trips with senior uniformed and civilian officers. 

■ Two deployments to Afghan istan, including one VIP trip with a senior officer. 

■ Six VIP trips in the U.S. with leaders from each of the services.

I’ve traveled through or reported stories out of: 

■ Iraq 

■ Afghanistan 

■ Kuwait 

■ Germany 

■ Qatar 

■ Jordan 

■ Turkey I’ve reported stories at home out of: 

■ Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va . 

■ Camp Lejeune, N.C. 

■ Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. 

■ Marine Barracks Washington, D.C. 

■ Naval Air Station Norfolk, Va. 

■ Marine Forces Reserve Head quarters in New Orleans 

■ MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. 

■ Fort Benning, Ga. 

■ Fort Belvoir, Va. 

■ Fort Myer, Va. 

■ Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. 

■ Fort Rucker, Ala. 

■ Fort Hood, Texas 

■ Fort Carson, Colo. 

■ Fort Irwin, Calif. 

■ Fort Gillem, Ga. 

■ Fort Bragg, N.C. 

■ Fort Campbell, Ky. 

■ Fort Drum, N.Y. 

■ Fort A.P. Hill, Va. 

■ Fort Jackson, S.C. 

■ Fort Leavenworth, Kan. 

■ Fort Riley, Kan. 

■ Fort Sam Houston, Texas 

■ Fort Monroe, Va. 

■ Fort Eustis, Va. 

■ Fort Lewis, Wash. 

■ Fort Knox, Ky. 

■ Fort Lee, Va. 

■ Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. 

■ Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. 

■ The Pentagon 

■ Capitol Hill On Army ranges at home and abroad, I’ve fired: 

■ M16 rifle 

■ M4 rifle 

■ 9mm pistol 

■ M60 machine gun at an aerial range from a Black Hawk helicopter 

■ Chinese RPK 

■ AK47 

■ Main gun on an M1A1 Abrams tank I’ve flown on: 

■ UH-60 Black Hawk 

■ CH-47 Chinook 

■ UH-72 Lakota 

■ CH-46 Sea Knight 

■ CH-53 Sea Stallion 

■ CV-22 Osprey 

■ G5 Gulfstream 

■ G3 Gulfstream I’ve had a front-seat ride to his tory, and: 

■ Lived in an apartment in Kuwait City and pet a camel in the desert; 

■ Watched surgery in a military field hospital; 

■ Walked on patrol with soldiers and Marines; 

■ Been shot at and mortared, felt the heat of a flare off the side of a helicopter and witnessed the death of a soldier, Spc. Francisco Martinez, in Iraq in 2005; 

■ Slept on the ground next to a Humvee, on a cot in a tent and on a bed in a palace; 

■ Crossed the Helmand River in Afghanistan with Marine Corps infantrymen; 

■ Watched a lieutenant accused of allowing his soldiers to shoot innocents walk free when they recanted; 

■ Talked with basic trainees and four-star generals all in the same day; 

■ Been interviewed on TV, radio and in print 

■ Talked to journalism students about covering the military; 

■ Been on discussion panels about media and the military and women who cover war; 

■ Written a book; 

■ Snagged one of the last, if not the last, interview with the most famous general of our generation, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus; 

■ Met innumerable friends and the love of my life … all while working in this newsroom.

So, thank you to my friends and colleagues and my appreciation for the front-seat ride. Farewell until we meet again. □ 

Gina Cavallaro, who has reported for Army Times and Marine Corps Times for more than a decade, is leaving June 15 to embrace new challenges in Africa and beyond.



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Care to comment, Mr. Kovick?

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"If not us, who?
If not now, when?"

- Unknown


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