An essay criticising the Kiwi military’s efforts to increase diversity won an army writing competition, only to be quietly taken down amid a backlash in the ranks.

The entry, titled Can the Army Afford to go Woke, Benign Social Progress or National Security Threat won the Chief of the Army’s writing competition in the “private writing category”.

The Chief of the Army, Major General John Boswell, says the final decision to award the essay first place in its category was his. He now says the decision was an error.

It was posted online on an army website on July 1, along with winning entries from other categories, but was later taken down.

There was and remains significant internal discord in the Defence Force regarding its content.

The essay, by an author identified only as “N Dell”, argues the army should try to become more exclusive rather than more diverse.

Sources spoken to by Stuff said it was hypocritical that the Defence Force spoke publicly about being committed to diversity, while actively promoting the opposite.

Boswell said in a statement he asked for the essay to be taken down from an Army website soon after the winners were announced.

“I made this decision when it became clear that publishing it was being seen as endorsement of the views contained within it, which could not be further from the truth.

“The New Zealand Army is one that strives to be inclusive and values diversity. The views that were expressed in the essay are not compatible with the Army’s values and the culture we are building, and I unreservedly apologise to anyone who saw publication of the essay as endorsement of the views that were contained within it.”

Boswell said the entry was one of two in the Private Soldiers’ category.

“All entries are considered by a panel and a recommendation was made to me for which essay should be awarded winner in each category.

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“The final decision however, was mine. I made that decision solely because I believed it the better written of the submissions received within that category, exclusive of the subject matter.

“I accept the error in that determination.”

 Dozens of people in a women's online armed forces group expressed dismay at its content.

The author’s byline does not state his rank, but he is presumably a private, given that he won the private’s category.

The competition had categories for commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers and civilians. Other winning entires also traverse the theme of diversity.

The removal comes amid concerns in the military of the presence of personnel holding extremist views.

Late in 2019, a soldier with far-right ties was arrested at Linton Military Camp and charged with sharing military information that threatened New Zealand’s security.

Secrecy surrounds his upcoming court martial, which is subject to ongoing delays.

Dell uses language drawn from online right-wing culture and alludes to the work of a prominent American conservative political commentator.

The essay is no longer available online, but a copy has been obtained by Stuff.

Dell begins by saying he writes acknowledging the risk of a backlash “afforded to the authors of similar documents in the current socio-political climate,” but invokes an army slogan containing the words “courage and integrity” in doing so.

“I will argue that the NZ Army cannot reconcile a more diverse and inclusive workforce with the maintenance of a warrior ethos and war-fighting culture or at least, it should not try,” he wrote.

“Further it should redirect as little energy as possible toward creating a more ‘inclusive’ culture in the way that this kind of language is understood in the politically charged parlance of the present day.

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“On the contrary, I will argue that, if anything, the army should instead endeavour to become more exclusive.”

Dell’s work does not cite sources, unlike other winning entries, a fact the author acknowledges.

“I was only made aware of this writing competition by my chain of command today, the final day for submissions, so my essay will not contain any academic citations or supporting material but will instead be my own opinion based on my own observations and experience.

“This opinion may be unpopular, especially with that vocal minority in the civilian world who have become so enamoured with so-called ‘Woke’ culture.

“However, I suspect that many of the arguments I put forward will resonate with the quiet majority, especially in the military.”

Dell argued efforts towards making the army more diverse and inclusive come at the expense of combat readiness.

“Every man-hour that is spent on ‘cultural awareness training’ or similar programmes is a man-hour that is not spent training for combat or monitoring our enemies.”

He further argued efforts to increase diversity hamper recruitment of the best candidates.

However, Dell said the army should be more inclusive in certain areas, particularly regarding disabilities or mental health issues.

He further argued efforts to increase diversity hamper recruitment of the best candidates.

However, Dell said the army should be more inclusive in certain areas, particularly regarding disabilities or mental health issues.

“Especially as medical technology and understanding improves, it would seem that many of these conditions may no longer effect a soldier or officer’s ability to perform their duties and could go the way of ‘flat feet’.”

He concludes by reiterating his stance that the army should not become involved in “culture wars”.

“The army should stick to fighting real wars.”

Former army officer Dr Ellen Nelson wrote her PhD on inclusion and diversity in the army, and undertook an internal army report which found more than half of women surveyed had been sexually assaulted.

Nelson said she and other army women she had spoken to were appalled at the army's “tone-deaf” choice to seemingly promote the writer's views.

“It’s disappointing that they made a poor choice to amplify and reward what was not a credible piece of writing, it was just a poorly-researched opinion piece,” Nelson said.

“Of course we acknowledge people within the army would have these views, but it's the decision to choose this as the winner and hold it up as an example that feels backwards.”

She did not think army leadership shared the sentiment, and was puzzled at the choice.

“Maybe they wanted to create a discussion, but it did not make any women feel valued to publish this as a winning essay. I think they took it down because they realised they had made a mistake, but it would be useful for them to elaborate.”

In her research, Nelson found overwhelming evidence for the benefits of diversity.

Another essay, which won the competition’s Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Category, argued increasing diversity and inclusion is in the spirit of maintaining the force’s warrior ethos and culture.

The piece, by “Ms E Campbell,” cites various sources including a book by retired American general Stanley McChrystal.

“Growing diversity introduces new and innovative ways of dealing with problems, and allows teams to better react to changing situations,” she argued.

“An inclusive culture allows teams to capitalise on their diversity by encouraging these solutions to be brought forward.

“The modern New Zealand soldier is diverse and inclusive, and a stronger warrior for it.”