By Tess Ikonomou in Canberra

Changes will be made to the length of army recruit and officer training courses to ensure the service is “match fit for war,” Australia’s chief of army has declared.

Delivering an address on the state of the army profession at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on Wednesday evening, Lieutenant General Simon Stuart handed down the findings of a review into the service, commissioned in 2024.

Outlining the challenges facing the Australian Army, he said “arbitrary time restrictions” on training courses will be removed.

Lieutenant General Stuart said the recruit course, which turns civilians into soldiers, is currently 13 weeks long but will continue to extend in length and depth.

Following a trial, officer training at the Royal Military College Duntroon will extend by a third with the next intake.

The chief of army said the foundations being built are “not strong enough yet to bear the full weight of our profession”.

“We are expecting Australians to make the significant transition from citizen to soldier too quickly and without sufficient investment,” he said.

“I’ve directed that these courses are to be as long as they need to be in order to build the right foundations for a profession that is match fit for war.”

Lieutenant General Stuart said neither change was a return to the past nor a step backwards.

“It is recognition that our junior leaders need a greater investment of time in the foundations of military command and leadership if they are to fulfil their obligation and their duty to our mission and to those whom they are privileged to lead,” he said.

Lieutenant General Stuart will soon step down as chief of army, when he is replaced by Chief of Joint Capabilities Lieutenant General Susan Coyle in July.

Announcing the appointment of senior ADF leadership positions, the federal government thanked Lieutenant General Stuart for his distinguished service, noting he was the first chief of army to begin his career as a soldier.