Welcome to the 2025 edition of the Chief of Army Professional Study Guide.

The Australian Army is at once a national institution, a profession and a fighting force, which has proudly served our nation since its federation in 1901. This study guide contributes to maintaining the health of the Army profession. Our profession is expressed through three pillars: our jurisdiction (the unique service that we provide for the society we serve), our expertise (the professional body of knowledge upon which we draw and for which we are accountable), and our capacity for self-regulation (the ability to maintain good order, discipline and accountability among the corrupting nature of war).

Our profession is characterised by a unique and profound commitment – every soldier voluntarily enters into the ‘contract of unlimited liability’, ready to give their life and to take the lives of our adversaries should either be required in the service of our nation. The stakes are high and they demand a corresponding commitment to continual learning through the study of our profession. We must develop our professional expertise if we are to fulfil our responsibilities to our fellow Australians and to one another in the crucible of war.

This guide distils and presents, through recognisable themes (command, leadership, the realities of war, intelligence, logistics and strategy, among others) the foundations of the Army profession via a proven route through our professional body of knowledge.

My intent is for this guide to be used in several ways. Leaders at all levels and in every unit and formation across our Army, who are responsible for the delivery of routine professional military education, should use it to focus effort. Those who design and deliver our professional courses should leverage it, principally as a source of inspiration for course design and content. Most importantly, it is designed for you – every soldier, regardless of rank, job or length of service.

The guide has a deliberately strong focus on military history. Given what is at stake, it is imperative that we learn from the experiences, successes and failures of those whom have gone before us. They help us to understand the enduring human nature of war, why and how its character is ever-changing, and how both have affected the soldiers and the armies doing the fighting. War has ever been a contest of adaptation. The lessons of yesterday help us to continually adapt today. As Professor Sir Michael Howard reminds us, the soldier must study history in ‘width, depth and context’ if we are to master our profession. This guide is intended to help us to do so.

While active reading remains the foundation of effective study, we ought to take a broad approach to learning. This guide includes movies, podcasts and works of fiction. I ask that you engage with this guide energetically, work together, leverage our schools and colleges, and other fora and resources – I commend to you the Australian Army Research Centre (AARC), The Cove and the excellent ‘Brothers N Books’ and ‘Sisters N Books’ initiatives. I would also welcome your feedback on the first iteration of the guide. Please send this feedback to the AARC using their website Contact page.

Books have been constant companions throughout my own service. Many of the most impactful are listed in this guide, and I use this opportunity to share some personal favourites: the first of which is the first book listed – 18 Platoon by Sydney Jary, a remarkable account that captures the essence of junior leadership. The list then broadens. Rommel’s Infantry Attacks, a study in tactical excellence and adaptation in war; Defeat Into Victory by Field Marshal William Slim captures the essence of generalship and the moral component of fighting power in the face of defeat; Sir John Keegan’s The Face of Battle, unambiguously conveys the human impacts of violence – instantly recognisable by those who have witnessed its pernicious effects; Warrior Politics by Robert Kaplan and The Lessons of Tragedy by co-authors Hal Brands and Charles Edel offer (which I have collectively found to be deeply-researched and historically-enduring ways to help make sense of the world and times in which we live); Professor Michael Evans’ essay Captains of the Soul, which somewhat-poetically and at the same time with eminent pragmatism and economy applies stoic philosophy to our profession; and for a long form exposition of stoicism and how to live a good life there are few better than Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

On ANZAC Day this year I stood at dawn before the Sandakan memorial in North Borneo, which commemorates the Sandakan-Ranau death marches; a profound place indeed to reflect upon the human cost of war. After the dawn service, in a clearing on the site of the prisoner-of-war camp Miss Amelia Cailes, a high school student from Western Australia and the 2024 Sandakan Scholarship winner recited her poem, A Shadow of Oneself. Amelia’s insight is extraordinary. In six short verses, she captures the horror of war and the gravity of the ‘contract of unlimited liability’ at a very human level. Amelia has kindly allowed me to share her poem – it is reproduced on the next page. I encourage you to read Amelia’s poem first and as a preface to how you, as a professional soldier, engage with the wisdom, insight, dilemma and inspiration that lie within the pages of this guide and the works that it introduces.

Good Soldiering.

 Simon Stuart, AO, DSC
Lieutenant General
Chief of Army

June 2025