Gina Cavallaro is an American journalist and author who has covered the U.S. military in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Biography

Cavallaro's career in journalism began in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

, Puerto Rico, with

WOSO WOSO (1030 kHz) was a commercial AM radio station broadcasting an English-language talk radio format. Licensed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, it served the San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area. The station was owned by Sherman Broadcas ...

, the island's only English-language radio station. She then became a reporter and editor at the English-language daily newspaper, ''

The San Juan Star ''The San Juan Star'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper was originally published by Star Media Network, a subdivision of San Juan Star, Inc. History The newspaper was f ...

''. After serving for one term as the press secretary for Rep.

Carlos Romero Barcelo Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhe ...

from Puerto Rico she went to work for the ''

Army Times ''Army Times'' (International Standard Serial Number, ISSN 0004–2595) is a newspaper published 26 times a year serving active, reserve, national guard and retired United States Army personnel and their families, providing news, information ...

'', which is owned by

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, Germany and dozens of Army posts in the United States. She embedded with the U.S. military in

and

several times. In 2005, she befriended 20-year-old Spc. Francisco Martinez in Iraq, who was assigned as her escort. He was later shot and killed on patrol by an enemy sniper. She witnessed his death and was traumatized by the loss. She later wrote of him in her book, ''Sniper: American Single-Shot Warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan''. She co-wrote ''Sniper'' with former Army

Ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

Matt Larsen, whom she later married. The foreword is written by the 31st Vice Chief of Staff of the Army

Gen Gen may refer to: * ''Gen'' (film), 2006 Turkish horror film directed by Togan Gökbakar * Gen (Street Fighter), a video game character from the ''Street Fighter'' series * Gen Fu, a video game character from the ''Dead or Alive'' series * Gen l ...

. (Ret.)

Richard A. Cody Richard Arthur "Dick" Cody (born August 2, 1950) is a retired United States Army general who served as the 31st Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army from June 24, 2004 to July 31, 2008. He retired from the Army on August 1, 2008. Early l ...

, architect of the

Asymmetric Warfare Group The Asymmetric Warfare Group was a United States Army unit created during the War on Terrorism to mitigate various threats with regard to asymmetric warfare. The unit was headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland and had a training facility at Fort ...

and former commander of the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

(Air Assault) and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The book is a collection of stories and impressions from dozens of snipers – soldiers and

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

, including Rangers and

Special Forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

Soldiers—who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2010, Cavallaro became a senior writer at ''

Marine Corps Times ''Marine Corps Times'' (ISSN 1522-0869) is a newspaper serving active, reserve and retired United States Marine Corps personnel and their families, providing news, information and analysis as well as community and lifestyle features, educational su ...

''. She and Matt Larsen lived together in Zambia for a year before their marriage. She worked as a writer for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a federal foreign aid agency, in the Congressional and Public Affairs office. In March 2017, Cavallaro became senior staff writer for ARMY magazine, a monthly publication of the Association of the U.S. Army.

References

External links

Military Reporters & Editors Biographies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavallaro, Gina Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American women writers American women war correspondents Puerto Rican journalists American newspaper journalists American women journalists Women in the Iraq War 21st-century American non-fiction writers