James Kittfield honored by Military Reporters & Editors
WASHINGTON — During its annual conference for journalists, Military Reporters & Editors presented awards to winners of its 2025 MRE Journalism Contest. James Kittfield, Senior Fellow and author-in-residence at the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress (CSPC), received an Honorable Mention for Commentary/Opinion (Division 2) award for five commentary pieces.
Award Summary
Five opinion articles on military leadership, The CSPC Dispatch, The Hill, Foreign Policy, Defense One, published 4/22/2024 – 3/20/2025.
Prize Category: Honorable Mention Commentary/Opinion Division 2, Text journalism published in traditional print or online media.
Best work by a columnist who writes about topics covering the military, national security, or homeland defense on a regular basis, published by a news organization with fewer than 20 reporters.
Judges’ Comments:
Unlike the Medal of Honor winners he has written about, who understood a cause greater than themselves, Kitfield in this piece describes the view by many in the military that President Trump is ill-suited to be commander-in-chief, because he is seen as lacking an understanding of that selfless sentiment, and using the armed forces “not as a sacred trust to be honored by any leader, but rather as an instrument of self-aggrandizement and brute force.” Kitfield also wrote eloquently about Trump’s threats and clashes with NATO, America’s listing in a gathering storm and a poignant description of the D-Day beaches and a visit to the U.S. cemetery above them.
Read the Winning Articles
- Opinion 1: Heed the Generals Who Call Trump Unfit to Lead, Defense One (10/3/2024)
- Opinion 2: America Listing in a Gathering Storm, Foreign Policy (3/26/2025)
- Opinion 3: A Trump Administration Strategy for Revitalizing U.S. Shipbuilding, The CSPC Dispatch (4/28/2025)
- Opinion 4: Trump’s Threats Cast Dark Clouds Over NATO Summit, The Hill (5/29/2025)
- Opinion 5: A Message from Normandy on D-Day Anniversary, The CSPC Dispatch (6/6/25)
Journalist Biography
James Kittfield
James Kitfield is Senior Fellow and author-in-residence at the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress (CSPC), and a contributing editor at Atlantic Media. He was the former senior national security correspondent for National Journal magazine and has written on
defense, national security and foreign policy issues from Washington, D.C. for over two decades, publishing hundreds of magazine features and web stories and reporting from dozens of countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Africa. His reporting from conflict zones such as the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan has won numerous awards.
Mr. Kitfield is author of four books on national security themes, most recently “In the Company of Heroes: The Inspiring Stories of Medal of Honor Recipients from America’s Longest Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq” (Hachette Book Group 2021). His national security reporting and
commentary have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, Foreign Policy, The Hill, Bloomberg View, National Journal, The National Interest, Newsday, Army Times, Air Force Magazine, The Stars & Stripes, Defense One, Breaking Defense, and other publications. Mr. Kitfield is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia’s Henry Grady School of Journalism.