The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Department of Defense" ...
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Military Children Left Behind: Decrepit Schools, Broken Promises
Over the course of six months, the Center for Public Integrity's iWatchNews examined the conditions of base schools attended by the sons and daughters of military personnel, and how those conditions might affect students whose parents are often deployed. Among their key findings were that tens of thousands of children attend schools on military installations that are falling apart from age and neglect and fail to meet the Defense Department standards.
Tags: base schools; military; defense department
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The Five Percent Rule
The investigation uncovers the U.S. military's failure to comply with its own tobacco pricing restriction, selling millions of dollars of tobacco products for well beneath legal limits.
Tags: cigarrettes; Department of Defense; Marlboro; soldiers; smoking
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"Breach of Trust"
Soldiers on all levels of the U.S. Armed Forces used fake college diplomas to increase chances of "promotions and pay raises." WHNT-TV revealed that several AMCOM employees had also presented "fake degrees" to the "Department of the Army." The investigation spurred a reconstruction of HR Specialist training, as the command's "ability to detect" to false diplomas was severely flawed.
Tags: U.S. Army; National Guard; Army Reserve; Department of the Army; U.S. Army and Department of Defense; General David Grange; Major General Jim Pillsbury; Army Aviation and Missile Command; U.S. Army Human Resource Command
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Weapon of Choice
This series investigates the United States military's use of depleted uranium. The series reveals that some "54,567 soldiers said they had been exposed to depleted uranium sometimes or often". The symptoms of those exposed to this are vomiting, difficulty in breathing, and overall feelings of weakness. Furthermore, it has been known to bind to DNA, which can cause mutations and cell death.
Tags: contamination; battlegrounds; Department of Defense; soldiers; military; FOIA; damages; harm; medical; health
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How the US Funds the Taliban
This investigation uncovered Taliban insurgents reaping millions of dollars in Department of Defense contracts. "These contracts have become an immense boon for the Taliban, as security firms found that paying off the insurgents was the only way to get supplies through hostile territory to US troops." This has become a large part of the Taliban's income.
Tags: Department of Defense; US military; logistics; Afghanistan; contracts; NCL Holdings; contractor; government; security official
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Crossing the Line
"We're coming after you." That was the Houston Police Chief's message to thieves when he launched the elite, $5 million a year Crime Reduction Unit. The problem? Some of the department's own officers alleged "we're coming after you" meant violating citizens' rights and search and seizure laws to build flimsy cases and rack up arrest numbers that ultimately did little to fight crime. KHOU-TV identified how CRU officers routinely stopped, handcuffed and interrogated citizens for petty infractions such as jaywalking or riding a bicycle without a light. The vast majority of the time these citizens were let go, but if police did make an arrest, it was usually for trace levels of drugs, which often resulted in plea bargain prosecutions for minimal jail sentences. One veteran defense attorney described the CRU as nothing more than "a mill to get convictions."
Tags: Houston; Texas; law enforcement; arrest; Texas Public Information Act; Crime Reduction Unit
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Backyard Bombs
In 1983, two boys were killed in San Diego as a result of old munitions explosion in a nearby canyon. San Diego County has a long military history of training camps and defense sites which have been turned into residential neighborhoods, but traces of that past are still seen today as some explosives were never removed.
Tags: weapons; shell; shell shock; debris; Department of Defense; obstacle course; practice field;
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Big Gov: Runaway Spending Under Bush
President George W. Bush's spending for defense and homeland security opened up a funding funnel that poured billions into a poorly managed and badly supervised contracting system.
Tags: George Bush; Department of Homeland Security; Department of Defense; federal government; money; contracts; budget; bureaucracy; economy; Pentagon
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(Dis)Service, Fallen and Forgotten
Families of immigrant service members who were killed were never told that they were eligible for immigration benefits among certain immediate family. The Department of Defense nor U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services were informing the relatives of the benefits.
Tags: survivors; posthumous citizenship; casualty; green card; civil rights;
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The Battle for Fort Monmouth
Asburry Park Press examined the cost of the proposed closing Fort Monmouth and relocating its mission. It found that the price had increased since the originally proposal.
Tags: Department of Defense; military; base; cost; misinformation; scientist; Fort; Base Realignment and Closure commission