Steve Walsh

Military and Veterans Reporter, KPBS
  • Steve Walsh
    Steve Walsh
    Spark Photography/KPBS

As a military reporter, Steve Walsh delivers stories and features for TV, radio, and the web.

Before coming to KPBS, Steve worked as a journalist in Northwest Indiana and Chicago. He hosted a daily public affairs show on Lakeshore Public Radio and was an original host and producer for the storytelling project Vocalo.org at WBEZ in Chicago. He has been a reporter on Back At Base, a collaboration between NPR and seven public radio stations that looks at veterans and the military.

He is a graduate of Indiana State University. He spent a large portion of his career as a print reporter for the Times of Northwest Indiana and the Post-Tribune in Gary, Indiana. At the Post-Tribune, he was embedded in Iraq twice. He was also an investigative reporter and covered the Indiana Statehouse.

Ways to Connect

Navy Proposes New Pacific Training Plan, But Critics Say It Could Harm Whales

By • Aug 16, 2018
Midshipmen from the Naval Academy depart the USS Higgins after a recent training exercise.
Steve Walsh / American Homefront

The Navy is rolling out its latest plan to manage wildlife in its ocean training grounds from Southern California to Hawaii. But environmentalists worry the Navy is backsliding in its efforts to protect marine life.

Troops Are Marrying Each Other More Often, Creating New Challenges for the Pentagon

By • Jul 6, 2018
Angelina Gabriel's family surrounds her as she's promoted to the rank of Navy Chief Petty Officer in a September ceremony. Gabriel's husband also is a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy.
Anthony N. Hilkowski / U.S. Navy

About 84,000 service members are married to another member of the military, and some find it hard to balance their marriages with their careers.

Navy To Shut Down 'Combat Camera,' Which Photographed Decades of Warfare

By • Mar 20, 2018
With a camera attached to his helmet, Navy Specialist 1st Class Benjamin Lewis participates in a training exercise. Combat Camera photographers are trained to shoot both cameras and weapons to photograph military operations.
Tyler S. Dietrich / U.S. Marine Corps

The Navy blames cost-cutting for the elimination of its two Combat Camera units, which take photos and videos of naval operations.

VA Faces Challenges As It Tries to Expand Mental Health Care

By • Feb 5, 2018
Army veteran Phillip Faustman sifts through his belongings at a San Diego homeless shelter. Faustman says he attempted suicide three times in two and a half years.
Christopher Maue / KPBS

The Veterans Health Administration is planning to make mental health care more available to help reduce veteran suicide. But veterans advocates worry about the impact on the already strained VA health system.

Two Years After Congress Required It, The VA Now Is Offering Veterans An ID Card

By • Nov 30, 2017
The veterans group AMVETS distributed this early prototype of the VA's new veterans ID card in October. The VA has not released a final design, and it's not clear if the Office Depot logo will appear on the final card.
AMVETS

The new veterans ID cards were mandated by a 2015 law. But some veterans groups are raising questions about the possibility that the cards will include corporate branding.

Decades After Inchon and Iwo Jima, Marines Try New Methods to Storm Beaches

By • Nov 13, 2017
The crew of an Amphibious Assault Vehicle waits on Red Beach in California during an October exercise.
Beverly Woodworth / KPBS

During a San Diego training exercise, the Marine Corps tried out some new tools to enhance its amphibious landings.

Navy Review Due Soon After Two Fatal Warship Collisions in the Pacific

By • Oct 16, 2017
The USS Fitzgerald sits in dry dock in Yokosuka, Japan after a June 17 collision with a merchant vessel.
Christian Senyk / U.S. Navy

Human error is likely to be among the causes of two separate collisions involving Navy destroyers. The accidents killed 17 sailors.

VA Prepares for PBS Vietnam Documentary; It May Trigger Some Vets' PTSD

By • Sep 14, 2017
Marines carry men wounded in a 1966 firefight in Vietnam.
Larry Burrows / Getty Images via PBS

The ten-part documentary by filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick is at times graphic, and people who work with veterans say it may trigger traumatic memories for those who fought in Vietnam.

Congress Deciding Whether To Double Down On Navy's Speedy But Troubled Combat Ship

By • Sep 12, 2017
Sailors steer the USS Gabrielle Giffords as the ship comes into San Diego.
Steve Walsh / American Homefront

The speedy, high-tech Littoral Combat Ship has been plagued with delays, mechanical problems and cost overruns.

The Fate of Transgender Troops

By • Aug 25, 2017

In the past decade the military has become increasingly open to service members of different genders and sexual identities.

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