FORT BENNING, Ga., (Oct. 29, 2014) -- Author James Kitfield visited Soldiers at the Maneuver Center of Excellence Oct. 24 as part of the Combat Leader Speaker Program to discuss his book, Prodigal Soldiers and his lessons and observations in covering the military.

Kitfield is a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress and contributor to the Defense One website. He is also a senior correspondant for the National Journal. He has written on defense, national security and foreign policy issues.

Kitfield fell into covering the military as a journalist interning with Stars and Stripes.

Kitfield talked about the most recent of his two published books, which he said details the Desert Storm generation of officers and that experience going back to Vietnam.

"The force that went into Vietnam was a draft force," Kitfield said. "It wasn't a force that was particularly well trained, or ready to fight on day one."

He said in the 1970s, training centers were established to ensure Soldiers were well trained.

"I'm watching your generation with a huge amount of interest," Kitfield said to the Soldiers and officers in attendance, "because I think you are going to shape the force of whatever service you are in for the next 10 to 20 years."

He spoke about his interest in talking with the Soldiers sitting in the room rather than speaking from his own observations.

"You guys are the most respected, and I would argue, probably the last institution of America the public still has great respect for," Kitfield said. "That's a really good thing."

Kitfield ended on an "up note" and said the force that went into Iraq has constantly gotten better.

"That gives me hope," he said.

Before ending his visit to Fort Benning, Kitfield took questions from those in attendance, and touched on subjects such as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, known as ISIS, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, known as ISR, and technology involved in war.

He explained that while he is a big fan of ISR, he believes people got carried away with technology.

"War still is a human endeavor," Kitfield said.