ABCNEWS' John McWethy

— -- John McWethy is ABCNEWS' chief national security correspondent, a position he has held since 1984.

McWethy reports on military and diplomatic aspects of U.S. foreign policy, primarily from the Pentagon in Washington. In addition to his daily coverage for World News Tonight With Peter Jennings, he also files stories for Nightline, Good Morning America and other ABCNEWS broadcasts.

McWethy was at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, when the building was struck by an American Airlines passenger plane. He was heavily involved in ABCNEWS coverage of the aftermath, which included the U.S. war on terrorism and the war in Afghanistan. McWethy went to Tora Bora in Afghanistan — traveling with U.S. special operations teams there — as the hunt for Osama bin Laden continued.

McWethy's assignments have included coverage of the air war over Kosovo, tensions in the Persian Gulf and in North Korea, and the India-Pakistan conflict. He spent months in Bosnia before and after American troops arrived, and visited Liberia during the worst of the fighting, when the U.S. Embassy was under siege. Assignments have also included reports from Haiti, Somalia, Mozambique, Russia and the Middle East.

For more than a decade, McWethy was ABCNEWS' primary correspondent covering secretaries of state James Baker, George Shultz, Warren Christopher and Lawrence Eagleburger. He has traveled to more than 50 countries, covering the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of the new, troubled nations that replaced it.

Though much of McWethy's focus has been on national security and diplomacy, his stories have also touched upon terrorism, espionage and intelligence matters. He was heavily involved in coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing and has twice traveled to Antarctica.

McWethy reported on all five historic meetings between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He covered the Iran-Contra affair and from Washington, the U.S. invasions of Grenada and Panama and Israel's invasion of Lebanon.

McWethy joined ABCNEWS in 1979 as chief Pentagon correspondent, covering the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. McWethy has received five National Emmy Awards for his participation in World News Tonight coverage of Sept. 11, 2001, ABCNEWS' millenium coverage and individual reporting on Ross Perot, the Persian Gulf War and the Soviet military. He also received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, an Overseas Press Club Award and other honors. In 2002, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from DePauw University in Indiana.

From 1973 to 1979, McWethy was a reporter for U.S. News & World Report, the last two years as chief White House correspondent. He joined U.S. News as science and technology editor. McWethy began his career in journalism at Congressional Quarterly.

A graduate of DePauw University, McWethy holds a master's degree from Columbia University's Pulitzer School of Journalism. He is married to Laurie Duncan-McWethy and has two children, Adam and Ian.