ALEXANDRIA, Va — An Alexandria defense journalist will be honored Saturday night with two awards from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation for his reporting on how the Marine Corps is preparing to fight in the Arctic.
Drew F. Lawrence, a reporter with DefenseScoop and a former Military.com journalist, is one of 20 recipients of the foundation’s 2026 Annual Awards — and one of only two to take home more than one award this year. He will accept the awards at the foundation’s Annual Awards Dinner on April 25 at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia.
Lawrence received the Corporal Jan Bender Award, which recognizes excellence in digital storytelling about the Marine Corps, for “On the Ice with Marines Preparing for War in the Arctic.” He also received the Major Megan McClung Award, given for distinguished reporting on U.S. Marines abroad, for “Supply or Die: Sustaining Marines in the High North so They Can Fight and Win a Future War.” Both articles were published at Military.com. The McClung Award is named for the first female Marine Corps officer killed in combat in the Iraq War, where she was serving as a public affairs officer…