Steven Emerson, Executive Director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), is pleased to announce that Ray Locker has joined our staff as Managing Director. The former national security editor of USA TODAY, he coordinated coverage of the Pentagon, American foreign policy and the international intelligence community.

Locker directed projects that showed the Pentagon's slowness in dealing with the threat of roadside bombs and he exposed the military's practice of hiring retired officers with conflicts of interest as advisers to current commanders. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has cited the IED reporting as the main reason he spurred a $25 billion program to buy new armored vehicles. As a result of Locker's investigative journalism, Congress is changing Pentagon policy.

"We are thrilled and honored to have someone of Ray's stature join our staff, and lead our editorial efforts. His years of experience, and his network of contacts will greatly strengthen our work," noted Emerson.

Before joining USA TODAY, he led the Sacramento bureau of the Associated Press, where he led the coverage of the 2003 recall election that elected Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has been an editor for the Los Angeles Times as well as a reporter and columnist for the Tampa Tribune.

Locker's responsibilities at IPT will include supervising research staff; presenting at conferences; briefing top officials from U.S. Government Agencies, Senators, Representatives and state and local law enforcement; cultivating relationships with web, broadcast, print, and other media outlets; and other special projects. "We have placed a significant amount of responsibility on Ray's shoulders. We consider him a vital element of our work, and a key resource in our efforts to combat stealth jihad," Emerson emphasized.

Ray Locker, 50, has a master's degree in journalism from Ohio University and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Cincinnati. He and his wife, Margaret Talev, a White House reporter for the McClatchy newspapers, live in Rockville, MD with their two daughters.