David Roza
Former Staff Reporter
David covered the Air Force, Space Force, and anything Star Wars-related for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023. He previously covered local news in Maine and FDA policy in Washington D.C. David loves hearing the stories of individual airmen and their families and sharing the human side of America’s most tech-heavy military branch.
Experience
I first caught the journalism bug while reporting on haunted buildings in Philadelphia for a college writing class. That was in 2013, and a couple years later I wrote about neon sign makers and underwater hockey players in New York City while earning my Master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University. After that, I wrote about cops, mud truck runners and town council meetings in rural Maine for The Ellsworth American, followed by drugs and medical devices while writing for Inside Health Policy in Washington D.C. Now I write about pilots, commandos and all kinds of other airmen in the U.S. Air Force, and every day I get to learn something — make that lots of things — new.
Education
BA in English from Haverford College, PA
MS in Journalism from Columbia University, NY
Fun Fact/Tip/Anecdote/Favorite Product
When I die, I want my epitaph to quote what my editor told me at The Ellsworth American: “That was the most interesting article about a sewage treatment facility I’ve ever read.”
Notable Work
- Meet the first and only Air Force pilot to shoot down a satellite Task & Purpose
- ‘You are the reason I drink’ — Airmen bid adieu to decrepit aircraft dubbed ‘Lucifer’s Chariot’ Task & Purpose
- Air Force combat controller breaks down that wild desert airstrike scene from ‘Transformers’ Task & Purpose
- No, military women are not getting pregnant to avoid deployment Task & Purpose
- The major flaws in the Air Force justice system that let generals go unpunished Task & Purpose