The Chief of Army Essay Competition
The Chauvel Essay Prize, 2025
From 2025, the Australian Army Research Centre (AARC) will administer an annual Chief of Army Essay Competition. The competition aims to encourage writing on all aspects of land warfare and joint military operations. The winner will be awarded the Chauvel Prize, named in honour of General Sir Henry George (Harry) Chauvel, GCMG, KCB, a former Chief of the General Staff and the first Australian to reach the rank of General.
The theme of the 2025 Chauvel Prize is ‘State of the Australian Army Profession—The Past, Present, and Future’. The release of the Defence Strategic Review (2023) and the National Defence Strategy (2024) has presented a new focus and a new set of challenges for the Australian Defence Force (ADF), and the Army in particular. After 25 years of peacekeeping and low-intensity conflict, the Army needs to prepare for high-intensity conflict, most likely in a littoral environment. The core question is: how does the Army, as a professional body, prepare for this future? With this in mind, the three questions for this year’s Chief of Army Essay Competition are:
Q1. How can the Army, as a profession, be optimised for littoral warfare operations?
Q2. How can the Army, as a profession, enable rapid mobilisation and expansion for conflict, if required?
Q3. How can the Army, as a profession, fully and effectively contribute to the ADF’s Integrated Force?
The AARC is looking for original essays that answer one of these questions. A winning essay will not be focused on solutions to tactical problems, or focused only on training. It will need to consider how the Army as an organisation, and members of the Army as professionals, need to adapt to meet the challenges above.
Entry Details:
The Chief of Army Essay Competition is open to serving ADF personnel (SERCAT 3–7) and Australian public servants employed by the Department of Defence.
Essay Requirements. To be considered for the Chauvel Prize, submissions must be 5,000 words in length (+/- 10%, excluding footnotes), academically styled, original, and containing citations to relevant sources. Essays will be required to address one of the three questions listed above. The essay must be an original work that has already been published.
Due Date. Entries for the Chauvel Prize will close at midnight on Monday 30 June 2025.*
Submission. Entries are to be submitted through the ‘Contribute’ page. Under submission type select ‘Competition’ and include the prefix ‘Chauvel Prize’ in the ‘Suggested Article Title’. Any queries can be directed to the AARC through the ‘Contact Us’ page.
Prizes. The winning entry will be awarded the Chauvel Prize, a $3,000.00 cash prize, and domestic travel to Canberra (at AARC cost) to brief the Chief of Army’s Senior Advisory Committee (CASAC) on the topic of the essay. The runner-up will receive a $500.00 cash prize and domestic travel to Canberra (at AARC cost) to brief CASAC on the topic of the essay. Entries will be judged by the AARC.
Publication. The competition’s winning and runner-up entries will be published in the Australian Army Journal (AAJ). Judges will also identify submissions that are ‘Commended’ and these may also be published in the AAJ or on the AARC’s Land Power Forum.
*Note: A call for submissions was published in AAJ 3-25. The due date has since been revised. Please refer to this webpage for the most up to date information.
