Kennedy’s focus for the Army Times, a Gannett-owned newspaper, is the health beat. She writes stories about traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicide, and stress relief. While the magazine’s audience is mainly people in the armed forces, her “Wounded Warrior” story in February of this year put the Army Times and the Army at the forefront of American readers’ attention. Kennedy’s story on the treatment of soldiers at the Walter Reed Medical Center was released one day before a very similar story by the Washington Post.

“The story was floating around for years, but I don’t think anyone thought it was real. When a lieutenant colonel told me about the conditions there, I believed him,” says Kennedy. And she had the personal experience to back up her belief. After returning from her service in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993, Kennedy was sent to Walter Reed because she was fainting often. “They told me there was no such thing as hypoglycemia and sent me on my way,” says Kennedy.

Because Walter Reed is the main hospital that soldiers are sent to when returning from war, Kennedy thought the story would generate great reaction, and it did. “The change was pretty immediate. Generals were being fired and new medical personnel were arriving,” says Kennedy.

One of Kennedy’s rewards as a journalist for the Army Times is being able to help people. “I recently wrote a story about traumatic brain injuries. In sports, they’ll pull you from the game if you have a brain injury, but in the military they don’t. I’m trying to educate soldiers and their superiors about what to look for,” she says.

Although most of her colleagues do not have experience in the armed forces, Kennedy believes that her experience serves her well as a journalist. “Because I was in the Army, I know to ask about things that other people wouldn’t know,” she says. But, she says, the Army has changed a lot since she was in it. “During the Persian Gulf, there was no information about PTSD. The culture, which followed a “suck it up” mentality, is changing,” she says.

As the culture of the military changes, the war goes on, and medical issues arise, Kelly Kennedy will continue to be a voice for soldiers and their needs.

Read Kennedy’s “Wounded and Waiting” story about Walter Reed Medical Center.

Read Kennedy’s blog “Tales from the Sandbox” from her nine-week tour in Iraq this summer.

Kelly Kennedy is also an Alumni Admissions Ambassador for CSU. In that volunteer role, she assists in recruiting students in her area to come to CSU. Alumni Admissions Ambassadors represent CSU at high school college fairs and share their personal Colorado State experience with prospective students.