John Ismay,

John Ismay is a reporter with a focus on the Pentagon and armed conflict, specifically covering the defense industry and weapons. He has extensive military experience as a bomb disposal technician in the U.S. Navy and served in the Pacific on a destroyer. His most formative experience was during deployment to northern Iraq in 2007 with a counter-improvised explosive device unit, which led him to become a reporter to help the public understand military operations not typically discussed by the Pentagon. Ismay graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1999 with a history degree and earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in 2014. He is committed to upholding journalistic ethics and protecting sources, especially when handling sensitive or classified information. The reporter is attentive to issues involving confidential sources, classified information, and the decision of whether to publish that information is made with editors. Before doing so, military leaders are informed and invited to offer comments for the record. Ismay's work often involves acquiring information that has been classified and withheld from the public by the U.S. government; part of his job is deciding whether publishing such information serves the public interest.