War reporter Alex Quade was appointed to the MRE board of directors at the annual conference by new president Bryan Bender, filling a vacancy on the board.
Quade recently returned from nearly 18 months on-and-off in Iraq and Afghanistan covering U.S. Special Operations Forces on combat missions. She is the recipient of the Congressional Medal Of Honor Society’s “Tex McCrary Award For Excellence In Journalism” for her war reportage.
The Medal of Honor recipients present the award to individuals who, through their life’s work, have distinguished themselves by service or unbiased coverage of the U.S. military through journalism. Prior recipients of this prestigious award include legendary broadcasters Tom Brokaw, Mike Wallace, Tim Russert, Paul Harvey, and author Joe Galloway (“We Were Soldiers Once, And Young”).
Quade worked at Fox News Channel before heading overseas in 1998 to cover war zones and hostile environments as a freelancer, mainly for CNN. Extreme storytelling and silent risk-taking lie at the heart of what she does. As a “one-man-band”, she embeds with elite combat units several months at a time, producing exclusive, long-form, special series and documentaries.
Vice President Joe Biden and the Obama White House recently highlighted Quade’s latest investigative stories, “Horse Soldiers of 9-11” for The Washington Times, CNN and The Daily Caller, which featured Green Berets, Air Force Special Operations Combat Controllers and CIA operatives. Biden directly quoted Quade’s stories during the dedication of the national monument paying tribute to these secretive warriors on Veterans Day in New York, near the World Trade Center site. (FOX affiliates, Armed Forces Network, and the Pentagon Channel re-broadcast the event and Quade’s stories worldwide.)
In Quade’s award-winning documentary, “Wounded Warriors” for “CNN Presents”, she was the first journalist to obtain unprecedented access to injured troops, premiering an exposé on the ravages of battle and the care given at every echelon in war zones. Today, military units include her piece in their pre-mission training, and the President’s Commission on Returning Veterans educates decision-makers and troop caregivers with viewings of the film.
Quade’s commitment to providing viewers “ground truth” behind the conflict and disaster zones around the world has kept her “boots on the ground.” For her award-winning “Brothers In Arms” for CNN’s “Paula Zahn Now”, Quade followed an Army National Guard family for 18-months, from Idaho to Iraq, and back. Following the program’s airing on CNN, President George W. Bush publicly recognized the family for their bravery.
Quade’s dedication to sharing military stories from all angles and giving voice to those in the fight is evident in “Hunting IEDs” for CNN’s “The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer” and CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360″, her series that gave viewers their first inside look at a dangerous Marine Platoon mission in Fallujah, Iraq. The U.S. Department of Defense Joint IED Defeat Task Force has used her piece as a case study.
Quade expanded her behind-the-scenes access in “Combat Search And Rescue” for CNN’s “The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer” and “The Glenn Beck Show” on Headline News (HLN). Her in-depth special incorporated never before told, high-risk rescue missions from the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan with U.S. Special Operations Forces.
Quade has been embedded with every branch of the U.S. military and spearheaded CNN’s Air Force coverage from a secret air base during the “Shock & Awe” campaign. Her “Military Hero” segments aired on CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” and CNN’s “This Week At War.”
Other awards for Quade’s war reportage include: an Armed Services YMCA “Angel Of The Battlefield Award”, an Army National Guard Bureau “Minute Man Award”, an International Health & Medical Media “Freddie Award”, two CINE “Golden Eagle Awards”, an American Women In Radio & Television Association “Gracie Award”, a Newswomen Of New York “Front Page Award”, and a Society of Professional Journalists regional “Green Eyeshade Award.” Her frontline reporting on the Asian tsunami was listed as part of CNN’s “DuPont Columbia Award” win; her special pieces for “CNN Presents” were part of CNN’s “International Documentary Award” win; and her hurricanes Katrina and Rita stories, while embedded with military emergency response teams, were part of CNN’s “Peabody Award” win. Ms.Quade has also been nominated for several National Association of Television Arts and Sciences regional “Emmy Awards”, as well as honored by the New York Festivals and regional Associated Press Broadcasters Association.
Quade’s articles have appeared in news magazines such as “Dangerous Assignments”, “Communicator”, “National Press Photographer”, “The Drop – Special Forces Association Magazine”, and “The American Headache Society” (regarding military post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries). She has also written for CNN.com, Military.com, and The Washington Times.
Quade served as a White House Intern, a student delegate at NATO’s “Conference on The Atlantic Community”, and is a graduate of Georgetown University’s “Institute of Political and Ethical Journalism.” She holds three separate degrees from the University of Washington: political science, communications and speech. Quade was an East-West Center Fellow in China, is an alumna of the selective University of North Texas Mayborn Literary Non-Fiction Writers Conference, and the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative (Covering the Military Home and Abroad Conference). In 2012, she will attend the Poynter Institute (“Power Reporting”), and the University of Kansas School of Journalism/U.S. Army Combined Arms Center “Military and Media Program” at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth.
Ms. Quade moderated the Defense Forum on Capitol Hill. She also moderated the groundbreaking “Patriots At Home” conference with Medal of Honor Recipient Drew Dix. Every chamber of commerce in the United States near a military installation now owns a DVD documentary of this results-oriented event to help their leaders reintegrate returning war veterans back into their civilian communities.
Alex Quade also is a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc.
