John Ryan

John Ryan, editor and writer

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Before joining Army Times in August 2010, I served five years on active duty in the U.S. Army, deploying twice to Iraq as a platoon leader. During a tour in 2006, I wrote a manual for capturing insurgents and was awarded a Bronze Star for service. I have also completed the Army’s Sapper and Airborne schools and Special Forces tryouts. After leaving the Army in 2008, I briefly played professional lacrosse, worked as a fitness coach at a college in New York and captained Ireland's national lacrosse team. I hold a bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a graduate degree in Journalism, with a concentration of magazine writing, from Columbia University in New York City. My work has appeared in USA Today, Defense News and Marine Corps Times, as well as Army Times.

Deputy editor and staff reporter at Gannett Government Media Corporation

August 2010 - Present | Springfield, Va.

An assistant news editor and writer at a weekly newspaper REPORTING: An enterprising journalist for a Gannett-owned weekly that breaks national stories - Filed more than 105 feature and news stories, based on many sources, addressing sensitive topics such as women, drugs and corruption in war, and soldier amputation - Also published in USA Today, Defense News and the Pentagon'€™s Early Bird, among others EDITING: Responsible for content of at least six pages of a 40-plus-page periodical; trained in photography and photo editing, WordPress, Final Cut Pro, Prestige pagination and research databases - Closely edited stories for structure, grammar and style, and letters to the editor and photos - Conceived, researched and reported mini-features and blogs on culture, trivia, history and bases

Student at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

August 2009 - August 2010

Earned an M.S. in journalism with a concentration in magazine writing; honors nomination for national affairs reporting and thesis; other coursework: beat reporting, feature writing and literary journalism

Fitness coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

December 2008 - May 2009

Supervised strength and conditioning programs for 23 collegiate teams

Professional lacrosse player at Major League Lacrosse

April 2008 - July 2008

Midfielder on the Long Island Lizards

Deputy program manager at U.S. Army

July 2007 - July 2008

Military liaison for a $28 million airborne-photo agency; program’s expert on general military operations

Targeting officer in Iraq at U.S. Army

June 2006 - July 2007

Officer in charge of insurgent investigations for a 930-soldier unit; handpicked for position by commanders

Columbia University - Graduate School of Journalism

2009 – 2010

Master of Science

Concentration: Magazine writing

Activities: Reporter for Neighborhood Beat Box

United States Military Academy at West Point

1999 – 2003

Bachelor of Science

Concentration: Systems Engineering

Activities: Varsity lacrosse and soccer