The Australian Army Research Centre (AARC) is proud to announce that then Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Simon Stuart AO DSC, has endorsed the winner, runner-up and commended essays for the 2026 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 2026 CA Essay Competition was ‘hardwiring adaptation’. Entrants were asked to provide original essays of 5,000 words (+/- 10%, excluding footnotes) that answered the following question:
How can we require the Army to continually adapt to the changing character of war?
The purpose of the question was to encourage authors to reflect upon how Army fostered or facilitated adaption, culturally, practically, and as an organisation.
The winner of the Chauvel Prize for 2026 is:
Lieutenant Christopher Wooding, ‘Hardwiring Adaptation through Exploration ’
LT Wooding receives:
- $3,000 in prize money
- publication of his essay in an upcoming edition of the Australian Army Journal
- publication of the essay in a compendium of the top submissions for the 2026 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 2026 Chauvel Prize is:
Major Matthew Jefferies, ‘Weaponised Curiosity - A Theory of Army’
MAJ Jefferies receives:
- $500 in prize money
- publication of his essay in an upcoming edition of the Australian Army Journal
- publication of the essay in a compendium of the top submissions for the 2026 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 theme of ‘hardwiring adaption’. Both were also notable for their intellectual rigour, relevance, and contribution to the Army Profession.
LTGEN Stuart was also pleased to commend the commended the following essays:
- Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Barber, ‘From Interconnected to Integrated: Transforming Army’s OODA Loops for the Changing Character of War’
- Colonel Benjamin Gray, ‘Embedding adaptive capacity as an institutional trait in the Australian Army’
- Corporal Bradley Machin, ‘Adapt in Peace; Prevail in War’
A further four essays were considered suitable for publication, and will be included in a forthcoming compendium of competition essays:
- Major Robert Bruce, ‘Sharpening the argument for land power: Demonstrating the utility of Army in an integrated and focused force’
- Dr Glenn Varona, ‘Cognitive Warfare as a Revolution in Military Affairs Implications for the Australian Army’
- Captain Alby Behrens, ‘From Adaptation to Adaptability: Establishing Change Management as an Individual Professional Capability of Army Leaders’
- Major Petar Gojkovic, ‘From work place to operational base: rethinking the Australian Army garrison’
The valuable insights, and number of responses submitted to the 2026 CA Essay Competition reflect the quality of authors’ contributions to discussions on key challenges in the Army 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 adaption drawn from industry best practice, to explorations of why an ability to adapt to the changing character of warfare is essential. 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 31 contributors to the 2026 CA Essay Competition for their essays on advancing professional mastery and thought leadership within the ADF. These works provide meaningful insights on thinking about how the Army adapts to the changing character of warfare, and how it can ensure battlefield victory in future conflicts.
The AARC will release the 2027 CA Essay Prize question on the website before the end of the calendar year.
