Stories are a captivating tradition of the human experience. There is something about chronological narratives that draws us like a moth to the light. The strength of that pull hinges on the amount of friction or drama we find in the pages. There must be something wrong, in order that we can hope, wait, and continue reading to find the moment when mal-intent is interrupted. 

It’s even better if we see the beleaguered protagonist experience a great reversal, in which the righteous, downtrodden character is elevated over the immoral antagonists whose actions thickened the plot. Consider the age-old tale of Cinderella, how she went from the mistreated stepsister to princess in a grand twist. Those with a rightly-ordered sense of morality cannot help but cheer in that moment, and smile as we see the evil stepmother and her awful daughters step down from prestigious existence into the laborious pit where they had tossed the righteous one formerly among them. It feels like I witnessed something akin to such a reversal when U.S. Navy Secretary John C. Phelan recently announced that my friend Kristina Wong had just sworn in as Director of Communications and Chief Spokesman for the U.S. Navy. 

I know Kristina. She flew all the way from Poland to be the main speaker at my military retirement ceremony in 2023. We had become acquainted in April of 2019, when a grouping of left-wing commentators — who claim the title of defense reporter — began attacking me because I took them to task for politically-motivated hypocrisy regarding how they conducted business during the first Trump administration. As I experienced an unexpected days-long viral episode, Kristina Wong was among the few who tossed a lifeline. Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur. We quickly became friends. Why? I think it has something to do with shared values and the mutual experience of knowing what it’s like to be cast as an outsider among one’s vocational community. 

Kristina began her news career working at The Washington Times, then went on to The Hill. She moved in 2017 to Breitbart, tasked with covering the Pentagon and Department of Defense. That was an unforgivable move in the thinking of many among the D.C.-based press corps. These traditionalists brag about holding military power accountable in an agency that grows less accountable despite their decades of self-congratulatory presence within it. 

From then on, Kristina knew what it was to be rejected by the predominance of her peers, a weight often borne by those who will not trade moral code for the convenience of the moment. I experienced similar in my line of work for being a constitutionally-minded military public affairs officer who expressed documented concerns over numerous instances of departures from policy, law, and the most rudimentary vocational ethics. Kristina and I both learned through experience that boat rocking is no more welcome in the 21st Century than it was in any other before. 

Where traditionalists among the Pentagon Press Association did little to keep a Defense Department — which preferred to operate as a sovereign state — connected to Americans, Kristina told the stories of abused command power and double standards on how rules pertaining to political expression were policed in the ranks. It was her reporting that forced the Army to reconsider the appointment of one of the most brazenly partisan senior non-commissioned officers in the force to the seat of Public Affairs Regimental Sergeant Major.

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Among her contemporaries, Kristina is the one who actually worked to hold powerful people accountable. Of course, that did not stop progressive commentators on the old Twitter from launching the predictable ad hominem salvos, the kind unrefined minds are most capable of. Smack talk about Kristina’s style was plenty. But most of her colleagues from reporter row didn't invest time trying out the Army’s new combat physical fitness test with the troops like she did. On that note, Kristina could complete the leg tuck (pull-up) portion of the original test, unlike most women in the Army. There are many who opine on topics, but few who immerse themselves to understand well and excel through challenge.

It was always clear to me that my friend is a bigger person than her critics. It seems the new Secretary of the Navy saw this as well. Kristina was cast out socially from among her peers in defense reporting. In a satisfying plot twist, she rapidly ascended above those who now count on magnanimity moving forward. 

It is a reversal that appeals to the most basic tenets of justice. But also like in the age-old fairy tale, there are complaints from the ugly stepsiblings. Kevin Baron, formerly of Defense One, reacted to the news by calling her a MAGA pamphleteer. This came after Baron co-authored a panicked argument claiming that the Pentagon’s new, disciplined approach to managing resident reporter privileges could place Americans in danger. Current Defense One representative Meghann Myers posted that military service spokesmen are usually uniformed members. While correct, the remark was received by many (myself included) as a passive swipe at Kristina. Not to be outdone, NatSec Coordinating Producer Jim LaPorta inferred a breach of ethics on Kristina’s part for not announcing that she was being considered for a spokesman role to her readers. It remains unknown if Pentagon-based reporters will now adopt the practice of writing stories about potential future career moves. Such howling reinforces the prudence of re-envisioning trust relationships between the military and left-wing media personalities who claim the mantle of Ernie Pyle. 

It is unusual to see one who was willing to be critical of the military ascend to a senior spokesman role for it. This should bring confidence that there is an honest broker at the Navy’s microphone. My friend Kristina Wong, once cast aside by many who portended to be better than she, now sits in the catbird seat. Long and faithfully may she serve from it.

Editor's Note: This article was updated post-publication to correct Mr. LaPorta's title.

Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America's military.

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