President's Writing Competition

Eligibility

Wirting Competition Poster

Cadre and students attending classes at Army Sustainment University may submit essay entries. Essays must be original, not previously published, and completed while attending the university during the submission period. Entries cannot be submitted for publication to any other journal or academic press concurrent with this competition. Two or more students or cadre may coauthor an entry, and international students enrolled in ASU courses may compete. There are separate categories for cadre and students. Individuals may only submit one entry to the competition, and only one entry will be considered if an individual submits multiple essays.

Prizes

The top essay will be published in ASPB and author recognized by ASU Leadership. Other essays may be chosen for publication on a space available basis.

Topics & Deadlines

Each quarter, topics will be chosen based on the Army Chief of Staff’s priorities. For each topic, participants should write about the priority related to military academic institutions and steps to take to meet the priority goal.

  • CONTESTED SUSTAINMENT IN LSCO - Due by October 15, 2023
  • COMING SOON - Due by Jan 15, 2024
  • COMING SOON - Due by April 15, 2024
  • DATA-DRIVEN SUSTAINMENT - Due by July 15, 2023

Rules & Regulations

JUDGING PROCESS: Students will submit their entries to armysustainment@army.mil with the subject header “ASU President’s Writing Competition.”

  1. The staff of the Army Sustainment Professional Bulletin will conduct an initial review of all entries, choosing the top submissions for each category for the ASU leadership team to review.
  2. A final review board of the ASU president, deputy to the president, commandant, senior enlisted advisor, school deans, and other ASU leaders will grade and choose the top submissions for each category.

FORMAT: An entry will consist of the essay and biography.

  1. Word count of the essays should not exceed 1,750 words.
  2. The biography follows the essay. It should be no more than 1 page and include the participant’s name, rank, Service/department, current college/school, and recent assignments, academic credentials, and contact information.
  3. Bibliographies, endnotes and footnotes, and appendices are discouraged. Essential supplementary material can be quoted and cited in the text and bibliographies will be stripped from the paper.
  4. The text should follow the format of a scholarly research paper (not a bullet paper, talking paper, PowerPoint briefing, etc.) and be submitted in Word format. Files should not contain desktop-publishing embellishments or macros. Please limit formatting to italics, bold, underline, bullet, or numbered lists.

JUDGING CRITERIA: Judges will evaluate essays using the standards of quality that they apply to traditional academic writing, with emphasis on the following:

  1. Innovation: Does the essay inject new thinking into the collective governance of military academic institutions? Does the essay demonstrate a unique approach and/or improve current initiatives? Does the essay take new lessons from history?
  2. Feasibility: Is the concept practical and plausible? Does the essay propose a project or concept that could realistically be applied to the government?
  3. Clarity of Thought and Purpose: Does the essay clearly define a problem and present a solution? Does it show thoughtful analysis?
  4. Persuasiveness: Is the essay logically organized, well written, and persuasive?

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: Only unclassified essays are eligible. Submitters are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts do not contain classified information. Essays may require a security review before publication and release if chosen for publication.

PUBLICATION RIGHTS: Army Sustainment Professional Bulletin reserves first publication rights for all essays submitted to the competition. Winners and other selected essays may appear in both print and electronic editions of ASPB.

  1. Submission of an essay to this contest will be considered acceptance by the author of this publication policy.
  2. Essays may not be entered in the competitions if they have previously been submitted for publication, accepted for publication, or published in another printed or electronic journal, book, or other publication.

INTELLECTUAL INTEGRITY: To ensure a fair and rigorous competition, colleges/schools are expected to be self-policing in the following areas:

  1. Students must submit essays and faculty or staff cannot submit a student paper without the student’s knowledge.
  2. No editing is allowed once the competition begins.
  3. Under no circumstances will a faculty member edit, correct, or change a paper once submitted by the students or cadre.

Essay Submission

Email your submission form, essay and biography to armysustainment@army.mil





Last Updated: 14 March, 2024