The Australian Army Research Centre (AARC) is proud to announce that the Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Simon Stuart AO DSC, has endorsed the winner, runner-up and commended essays for the 2025 Chief of Army Essay Prize competition. The winning essay from the competition is awarded the Chauvel Prize.
The Chauvel Prize is named in honour of General Sir Harry Chauvel, who was the first Australian to reach the rank of Lieutenant General (and later, General). He was also the first to lead a corps and, as commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, was responsible for one of the most decisive victories in Australian military history.
The theme of the 2025 CA Essay Competition was the ‘State of the Australian Army Profession – The Past, Present, and Future’. Entrants were asked to provide original essays of 5,000 words (+/- 10%, excluding footnotes) that answered one of three questions:
- How can the Army, as a profession, be optimised for Littoral Warfare operations?
- How can the Army, as a profession, enable rapid mobilisation and expansion for conflict, if required?
- How can the Army, as a profession, fully and effectively contribute to the ADF’s Integrated Force?
The purpose was to encourage authors to reflect upon the Army profession, and link that to Army’s transformation for littoral operations, underpin its capacity to mobilise and expand rapidly, or most effectively generate land power for the integrated force.
The winner of the Chauvel Prize for 2025 is:
Corporal John Wellfare, ‘The Professional Revolution to Transform Army into an Integrated Enabler’
Corporal Wellfare receives:
- $3,000 in prize money
- publication of his essay in the upcoming third (themed) edition of the Australian Army Journal (Vol. 21, No. 3)
- publication of the essay in a compendium of the top submissions for the 2025 competition
- the opportunity to brief the Chief of Army’s Senior Advisory Committee (CASAC) on the issues covered in the essay.
The runner-up essay for the 2025 Chauvel Prize is:
Major Robert Bruce, ‘Preparing the Army as a Profession for Mobilisation’
Major Bruce receives:
- $500 in prize money
- publication of his essay in the upcoming third (themed) edition of the Australian Army Journal (Vol. 21, No. 3)
- publication of the essay in a compendium of the top submissions for the 2025 competition
- the opportunity to brief the Chief of Army’s Senior Advisory Committee (CASAC) on the issues discussed in the essay.
Both essays demonstrated exceptional insight in engaging the research priority theme of the ‘State of the Australian Army Profession – The Past, Present, and Future’. Both were also notable for their intellectual rigour, relevance, and contribution to the profession of arms.
Further, the Chief of Army commended the following essays:
- Ms Rosemary Woodbridge, ‘The Army We Need: Redefining the Profession for an Integrated Future’
- Major Matthew Jefferies, ‘State of the Australian Army Profession: The Past, Present, and Future’
- Corporal Jeremy Stredwick, ‘Optimising the Australian Army Profession for Littoral Warfare: Lessons from the Past, Imperatives for the Future’
Finally, a further six essays were considered suitable for publication and inclusion in a collected edition:
- Lieutenant Colonel McLeod Wood, ‘A Ghost Division – Gaining Tempo During Mobilisation By Implementing The Unseen’
- Lieutenant Colonel Brendan Gilbert, ‘Generating Additional Capability’
- Captain Matthew Malcolm, ‘Military Collaborative Practice as a Feature of the Army Profession’
- Lieutenant Christopher Wooding, ‘Reconnaissance-Strike Tactics in Littoral Operations’
- Lieutenant Colonel David Caligari and Major Zach Lambert, ‘How can the Army, as a profession, fully and effectively contribute to the ADF’s Integrated Force?’
- Private R, ‘A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention’
The valuable insights and number of responses submitted to the 2025 CA Essay Competition reflect the quality of authors’ contributions to discussions about the profession, and the transformation of land power. Contributors ranged from current serving members of the ADF across a range of ranks and workforce segments, including APS. Similarly diverse were the range of topics covered across the responses – from historic insights and models of professionalism drawn from health best practice, to the impact of modern technology and the need for ethical leadership. Such willingness to contribute ideas, demonstrates the potential of the Army community, and the opportunities that arise from developing a wide knowledge base.
As the Chief of Army has endorsed the essay competition results, the AARC will produce a collection of papers comprising the winner, runner-up, commended and to-be-published categories, to be uploaded on the AARC website.
The AARC and Army Headquarters thank all contributors to the 2025 CA Essay Competition for their essays on advancing professional mastery and thought leadership within the ADF. These works provide meaningful insights on thinking about what a professional Army looks like and how it can best achieve the transformations asked of it.
The AARC will release the 2026 CA Essay Prize question on the website before the end of the calendar year.
