The Army Historical Foundation (AHF) is pleased to announce the opening of its 2025 Distinguished Writing Awards to recognize books and articles that have made a significant contribution to the scholarship on U.S. Army history.
Book publishers and journal/magazine editors are invited to nominate one or more of the books and articles they published in 2025 for consideration by the Foundation’s Awards Committee.
Book candidates may be nominated in one of seven general categories:
- Biography
- Journals, Memoirs, and Letters
- Operational/Battle History
- Institutional/Functional History
Unit History - Reference
- Reprint
Each candidate will receive an initial screening. A select Awards Committee of distinguished military historians and writers will then carefully judge finalists. The Committee will judge each finalist against these five criteria:
- Significance to U.S. Army history
- Quality of writing (e.g. clarity, style and analysis)
- Historical accuracy
- Presentation (e.g. use of maps, photographs other materials)
- Depth of research and sources
Books in the Reprint category will be judged on the following three criteria:
- Significance of original work
- Quality of reprint
- Value added to original work
Article candidates may be nominated in one of two categories:
- Academic Journals (requiring citations)
- Journals and Magazines (not requiring citations)
Articles will be judged on similar criteria used for books.
The winners of the Distinguished Writing Awards receive a distinctive plaque and nominal cash prize (winners in the reprint category receive a plaque only. An award will not necessarily be given in each category every year.
The deadline for submitting nominees is 31 January 2026. For more information on the Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Awards and how to submit nominees, please contact Mr. Matt Seelinger, AHF Chief Historian, at (703) 562-4166, or at matt.seelinger@armyhistory.org.