Washington Post taps Gregg to cover defense industry

Washington Post business editor David Cho, deputy business editor Zachary Goldfarb and corporate accountability editor Ziva Branstetter sent out the following announcement:

We are thrilled to announce Aaron Gregg has been promoted to staff writer on The Post’s business desk, where he will cover the defense industry and government contractors.

Aaron came to The Post through our investigative partnership with American University, during which he contributed to coverage of the Iraqi military’s early challenges containing ISIS. He later became a part-time copy aide with The Post’s weekly Capital Business publication and worked evenings as a researcher for the National desk’s “Read In” newsletter.

Since joining the Business department in 2015, he has written more than 500 stories covering the local economy, defense contractors, military technology, cybersecurity and international trade policy.

His work with the Metro section’s Fenit Nirappil revealed how a Maryland lawmaker led the effort to legalize medical marijuana even though he was a paid consultant for a pot company. As a result, the lawmaker was removed from a key committee post.

His more recent coverage has delved into the Pentagon’s revolving door, the challenges contractors face when the government shuts down and the Air Force’s $10,000 toilet cover. He was among the first to detail how Amazon faced conflict-of-interest allegations in relation to a $10 billion military cloud-computing contract, and he produced leading coverage of aircraft safety problems at Boeing. He has anchored The Post’s Top Workplaces publication for five years.

Aaron was raised in Lilburn, Ga., and studied music and political science at Emory University in Atlanta, where he freelanced for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He also earned a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University.

He begins his new role immediately.