Don North
Interim President
Washington, D.C.
dnorth6743 @ aol.com
Don North has carved a niche for himself in war reporting and photojournalism by looking closely at conflicts in recent history. Armed with a Nikon, notepad and film or video, he has covered Vietnam, Afghanistan, El Salvador, the Gulf war, Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq–15 wars in 30 years. Following three years in Vietnam as a cameraman and then correspondent for ABC and NBC, North studied Arab Nationalism at Columbia University. Shifting focus from Asia, he was NBC bureau chief in Cairo and covered the Middle East.
He was based in Tel Aviv in 1973 and followed the advance of Israeli forces in the Golan and Suez. He covered the Afghan war against Soviet occupation, and during the Gulf War, he served as Media Advisor to Joint Commander Prince Khalid Bin Sultan.
During the Iraq War, he was embedded with the 101st Airborne and after the fall of Baghdad became Senior Advisor for the Iraq Media Network. Recently he has lectured at Washington area universities and produced video documentaries on Iraq, Vietnam, Burma and Pakistan.
For the Voice of America he has conducted training programs for journalists in Vietnam, Indonesia, Montenegro and Serbia.
Otto Kreisher
Secretary-Treasurer
ottokreisher1 @ verizon.net
Otto Kreisher is an independent journalist specializing in defense and aerospace issues. He is a regular contributor to Seapower, Air Force, Leatherneck and Proceedings magazine and is North American editor and writer for Naval Forces magazine, a German-based international publication. Kreisher also is a part-time reporter for Congress Daily, covering a wide variety of issues.
He began his journalism career in 1968 as a reporter with the Associated Press in Chicago. He later worked for AP in New York City before joining The San Diego Union in 1972. After 10 years in California covering state government and national politics, Kreisher was transferred to the Copley News Service Washington bureau in 1982, where he covered Congress and national politics before becoming the national security reporter in 1986.
He covered U.S. forces in Grenada, Panama, in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, in Haiti and was embedded on the aircraft carrier USS Constellation for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He left Copley in late 2006. Kreisher was an enlisted Marine and earned a commission as a Naval Flight Officer. He retired as a Navy commander after 25 years of active and reserve service.
MRE Board of Directors (updated Nov. 28, 2009)
DIRECTORS:
Sig Christenson
Former MRE President
Military writer, San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio, Texas
saddamscribe @ yahoo.com
Isaac Cubillos
Asst. Metro Editor/Copy Editor
Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers
isaac @ cubillos.com
Mike Francis
Associate Editor, The Oregonian
Portland, Ore.
mikefrancis @ news.oregonian.com
Louis Hansen
Staff Writer, The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk, Va.
louis.hansen @ pilotonline.com
Kelly Kennedy
Reporter, Army Times
Washington, D.C.
kellyskennedy @ yahoo.com
Steve Komarow
Assistant Intl Editor, AP
Washington, D.C.
skomarow @ ap.org
Carl Prine
Reporter, Pittsburg Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh, Pa
cprine @ tribweb.com
Tom Roeder
Reporter, Colorado Springs Gazette
Colorado Springs, Colo.
tom.roeder @ gazette.com
