Joan Zakrocki S

usan Katz Keating is an investigative journalist specializing in national security. A former Washington Times reporter, she is the author of Prisoners of Hope: Exploiting the POW/MIA Myth in America (Random House). As a correspondent for PEOPLE magazine, Susan tackles The Three M's: Murder, Mayhem, and Military. Some of the high profile stories she has covered include Paula Broadwell / David Petraeus; shootings at Sandy Hook, Aurora, Ft. Hood, and Virginia Tech; and the SEAL assault on Osama bin Laden.

Her work has appeared in Time Magazine, Readers Digest, The New York Times, Soldier of Fortune, Air&Space/Smithsonian, American Legion, VFW, and other publications. She has been cited in the New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, Salon, and other journals. Away from field and laptop, Susan is a founding trustee for the Americans in Wartime Museum, and is an officer of the board for Cooking With the Troops. She served in the U.S. Women's Army Corps, where she earned her Expert rating on the M-16 rifle.

After the Army, Susan was editor of the Dixon Tribune newspaper in California. She was a director of the Travis AFB Museum, and served as restoration crew chief on a B-52. She trained at Blackwater and belongs to the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. Susan attended the University of California and lives in Virginia.

Keating's readers refer to her by her by her nickname SKK. When asked where it originated Susan stated, "The slogan on my coffee mug (and business card) says, SKK is not a Soviet Weapon. The slogan got started a couple years ago when Uncle Jimbo and my BFF, Concrete Bob, made fun of me for not having a nickname. I have a toy AK-47, and Bob picked it up and said my initials make me sound like a Soviet weapon. The guys christened me SKK on the spot."

At the top of Keating's blog site is a photo of her taking a ride in a familiar military vehicle. Explaining the image she says, "The tank picture on the main page? That was taken on GTMO (before everyone started using the "I" in its abbreviation), on a ridge line between American Cuba and Castro's Cuba. I never knew a tank could go so fast until I climbed aboard with that young Marine at the paddles!"


Susan's blog site can be found at www.susankatzkeating.com and she also heads the Facebook group
Ft. McClellan Health Registry Act which is full of information every Fort McClellan veteran will find helpful.