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J.P. Lawrence

J.P. Lawrence is a downrange reporter covering Afghanistan and Iraq.

Lawrence joined Stripes in 2018. He previously reported for the San Antonio Express and Albany Times Union. He has written in the U.S. and Africa for the New York Review of Books, Vice, the Intercept and the Associated Press. He served in the U.S. Army and went to Bard College and Columbia University in New York.

Email: lawrence.jp@stripes.com

A volunteer for Soldiers' Angels, a charity based out of San Antonio, Texas, sews a face mask to send in a care package for deployed service members, April 8, 2020.<br>Michelle Julazadeh Chavarin/Soldiers' Angels
A volunteer for Soldiers' Angels, a charity based out of San Antonio, Texas, sews a face mask to send in a care package for deployed service members, April 8, 2020.<br>Michelle Julazadeh Chavarin/Soldiers' Angels

Snacks and face masks: Volunteers adapt troop care packages to the times

Care packages for deployed troops, often filled with items like cookies and cards, will feature something new in response to a worldwide pandemic: face masks.

Retired Army Spc. James Smith underwent his 20th surgery for wounds sustained in Iraq in 2005, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic began. His sister, Jennifer Mackinday, who is also his main caregiver, took him to her home to recover.<br>Jennifer Mackinday
Retired Army Spc. James Smith underwent his 20th surgery for wounds sustained in Iraq in 2005, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic began. His sister, Jennifer Mackinday, who is also his main caregiver, took him to her home to recover.<br>Jennifer Mackinday

With ‘what-ifs’ and isolation, coronavirus risks weigh on caregivers for veterans

The risk coronavirus poses to people with underlying medical conditions has added a new level of stress for caregivers helping their veteran loved ones.

James Martin, center, a Marine veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, plays video games Sept. 23, 2018, with his family in his home just outside of Pittsburgh, Pa. Martin, a volunteer for the Wounded Warrior Project, hopes to connect veterans during the coronavirus pandemic through online gaming.<br>Wounded Warrior Project
James Martin, center, a Marine veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, plays video games Sept. 23, 2018, with his family in his home just outside of Pittsburgh, Pa. Martin, a volunteer for the Wounded Warrior Project, hopes to connect veterans during the coronavirus pandemic through online gaming.<br>Wounded Warrior Project

Video games, buddy checks and feats of strength: Veteran organizations go virtual in response to pandemic

An online forum brings together veterans from all over the country for fun, video games and untangling the stresses of life during the coronavirus.

A billboard in Ghazni promotes coalition action in Afghanistan in 2010. The Leonie Group, which produced television, radio and billboard ads in Afghanistan, falsely billed the government for ads that were never disseminated, the company's former president alleges in a whistleblower lawsuit.<br>Justin Howe/U.S. Army
A billboard in Ghazni promotes coalition action in Afghanistan in 2010. The Leonie Group, which produced television, radio and billboard ads in Afghanistan, falsely billed the government for ads that were never disseminated, the company's former president alleges in a whistleblower lawsuit.<br>Justin Howe/U.S. Army

Company charged millions for pro-America ads that never aired in Afghanistan, lawsuit alleges

A contractor billed the Pentagon millions of dollars for ads that never aired in Afghanistan,the company's former president says in a whistleblower lawsuit.

A counter-rocket, -artillery and -mortar weapon is fired as part of a scheduled system check at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in 2016. U.S. and Afghan officials said defense systems intercepted three mortars fired at Bagram Airfield on March 21, 2020, There were no injuries or damage to the base, military officials said.<br>Ben Santos/U.S. Forces Afghanistan
A counter-rocket, -artillery and -mortar weapon is fired as part of a scheduled system check at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in 2016. U.S. and Afghan officials said defense systems intercepted three mortars fired at Bagram Airfield on March 21, 2020, There were no injuries or damage to the base, military officials said.<br>Ben Santos/U.S. Forces Afghanistan

ISIS attack targets US troops at Bagram Airfield in third such incident since Taliban peace deal

An Islamic State militant fired mortars at U.S. and international troops at Bagram Airfield in what security officials said was the third attack on the base since the U.S. signed a peace deal with the Taliban last month.

A counter-rocket, -artillery and -mortar weapon is fired as part of a scheduled system check at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in 2016. U.S. and Afghan officials said defense systems intercepted three mortars fired at Bagram Airfield on March 21, 2020, There were no injuries or damage to the base, military officials said.<br>Ben Santos/U.S. Forces Afghanistan
A counter-rocket, -artillery and -mortar weapon is fired as part of a scheduled system check at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, in 2016. U.S. and Afghan officials said defense systems intercepted three mortars fired at Bagram Airfield on March 21, 2020, There were no injuries or damage to the base, military officials said.<br>Ben Santos/U.S. Forces Afghanistan

ISIS attack targets US troops at Bagram Airfield in third such incident since Taliban peace deal

An Islamic State militant fired mortars at U.S. and international troops at Bagram Airfield in what security officials said was the third attack on the base since the U.S. signed a peace deal with the Taliban last month.

Green Beret Kevin Flike takes a selfie while on patrol in an Army Ground Mobility Vehicle in Baghlan province, Afghanistan, in 2010.<br>Kevin Flike
Green Beret Kevin Flike takes a selfie while on patrol in an Army Ground Mobility Vehicle in Baghlan province, Afghanistan, in 2010.<br>Kevin Flike

Wounded Green Beret veteran's Boston Marathon dreams deferred, but hope remains

Days after a Taliban sniper’s shot left Staff Sgt. Kevin Flike bedridden and awaiting what would become six separate surgeries, he made himself a promise: he’d recover and he’d finish a marathon. It took nearly nine years for Flike, 35, to get to where he could make good on that promise, but now that's on hold.

Pictured here on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018, is the Craig Joint Theater Hospital ambulance bay in Afghanistan.<br>Chad Garland/Stars and Stripes
Pictured here on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018, is the Craig Joint Theater Hospital ambulance bay in Afghanistan.<br>Chad Garland/Stars and Stripes

Coalition forces in Afghanistan establish quarantine areas, say no confirmed cases of coronavirus

The U.S.-led international coalition in Afghanistan said quarantine areas have been established for those awaiting tests.

The shadows of a formation of Marines saluting are seen at Camp Shorab, Afghanistan, where U.S. military advisers will consolidate after closing a base in the nearby city of Lashkar Gah, beginning March 10, 2020, as part of a withdrawal deal with the Taliban.<br>Chad Garland/Stars and Stripes
The shadows of a formation of Marines saluting are seen at Camp Shorab, Afghanistan, where U.S. military advisers will consolidate after closing a base in the nearby city of Lashkar Gah, beginning March 10, 2020, as part of a withdrawal deal with the Taliban.<br>Chad Garland/Stars and Stripes

US troops have left bases in Helmand, Laghman provinces, officials say

U.S. troops have pulled out of a key base in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, the site of some of the fiercest fighting of the war, officials said Friday.

Zabihullah Bayan, a former Afghan interpreter for the U.S. military, prepares to leave Kabul, Afghanistan, with his family on a special immigrant visa, on Oct. 10, 2019. The U.S. government submitted a plan March 5, 2020 in response to a court order to speed up the SIV program, which provides visas for Afghan and Iraqi translators who worked for the U.S.<br>
Zabihullah Bayan, a former Afghan interpreter for the U.S. military, prepares to leave Kabul, Afghanistan, with his family on a special immigrant visa, on Oct. 10, 2019. The U.S. government submitted a plan March 5, 2020 in response to a court order to speed up the SIV program, which provides visas for Afghan and Iraqi translators who worked for the U.S.<br>

US plan to fix visa delays for interpreters who helped troops deemed ‘offensive’

A Trump administration proposal to fix a visa program that allows war zone interpreters to resettle in the U.S. has been rejected as “downright offensive” by a refugee advocacy group.

Kamila Azizi, 18, talks about how to protect the gains made by Afghan women since 2001 while speaking at a conference to celebrate International Women's Day at American University of Afghanistan in Kabul on Sunday, March 8, 2020.<br>J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes
Kamila Azizi, 18, talks about how to protect the gains made by Afghan women since 2001 while speaking at a conference to celebrate International Women's Day at American University of Afghanistan in Kabul on Sunday, March 8, 2020.<br>J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes

Afghan women worry their rights will be a bartering tool at talks with the Taliban

Afghan women fear their hard-won rights could be bargained away when government negotiators meet with the Taliban to map out the future of the country, female students at an American-backed university said Sunday.