Zita Ballinger Fletcher is an award-winning author and military historian. She is a graduate of the Honors College at the University of South Florida and earned her Master’s Degree in Military History with Distinction from the University of Birmingham in the U.K. She has written over 10 books, including both fiction and nonfiction, and over 100 military history articles. She is fluent in German.

As defense reporter and Forbes contributor, she writes on national security, military affairs and emerging weapons technology. She has covered NATO, the Pentagon’s integration of autonomous systems into U.S. military forces and emerging approaches to counter-drone warfare.

Zita was previously the first female editor managing Military History Quarterly (MHQ) and Vietnam magazines. After receiving her BA she became the author of the first published collection of Field Marshal Rommel’s wartime photography. In her early writing career she published books using the creative pen name Zita Steele.

She served proudly as the official historian of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and has written in German as a guest historian for the German War Graves Commission, which she supports.

She has done research about war history across the US and internationally, visiting many key historic war-related sites including The Museum of Military History in Vienna, Austria; The Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg; The Munich Stadtmuseum, and many more places.

She was awarded the 2026 USF Outstanding Young Alumni Award recognizing exceptional career achievement, service to the community and innovation.

Originally from Los Angeles, California, Zita was named after Empress Zita of Austria, the wife of the last Habsburg emperor, Karl I of Austria. Both Karl and his wife Zita have been inspirations to her. Zita’s earliest goal was to be an author and she always loved soldiers and heroes.

Apart from her military history research and writing, she enjoys traveling, music, a wide variety of sports/physical activities and being outdoors.

“A major contribution for understanding Rommel’s early life as a young officer and genius tactician ….truly unique and valuable. Based on her in depth research, she incorporates expert, personal commentary, and notes … she succeeds admirably. As a former infantry officer assigned to the US Army Infantry School’s Doctrine and Training Development Directorate and later, the Command, Tactics, and Leadership Department, I am quite impressed …I consider it a must read for military historians, tactics instructors, future or current combat arms officers and noncommissioned officers, or old military veterans like me.”

-Lt. Col. Ed Sherwood (US Army, Ret.), Author of 'Courage Under Fire: The 101st Airborne’s Hidden Battle at Tam Ky,' a 2021 Army Historical Foundation’s Distinguished Writing Award finalist

“Excellent, insightful, and revealing new English translation—which is much truer and exceedingly more faithful to Rommel’s highly nuanced, original German account …This translation demonstrates the roots of Rommel’s operational genius, showing “how Rommel became Rommel”….  a hands’-down, “must-have” book in any military history enthusiast’s library.”

- Col. Jerry D. Morelock, PhD., U.S. Army (Ret.)

'The author has vividly presented two contrasting, but fatefully connected, historical figures at a key turning point in the Second World War. Through her rigorous research she presents an informative but engaging story of brilliant military tacticians, each with their vulnerabilities, battling for death or glory amongst the unpredictable sands of North Africa.’

- Chris Kirby, General Manager, The Fusilier Museum Warwick, on "Monty vs. Rommel at El Agheila"

"Zita Ballinger Fletcher has written a fascinating book about Montgomery's little known employment of an American Flying Fortress bomber for his protection … The crisp and accessible writing style means that the narrative never gets bogged down in unnecessary detail but hurtles along impressively. Once I started reading, I could not put the book down. Highly recommended."

- Dr. Steven Morewood FRHistS, Associate Professor in International History at the University of Birmingham