An Army White Paper, The Profession Of Arms

Well, “Professions produce uniquely expert work, not routine or repetitive work.” (“The Profession of Arms” 2010 page 2) The Army as a whole does not just have one function. The Army is first and foremost ready and available to defend the American People. Second, the Army is always working on improving and striving for the future. The Army is always looking at how to modify and improve the tasks at hand and learning from the mistakes. The Army Profession earns the respect of the American people through hard work and never giving up. “The U.S. Army’s professional Ethic is built on trust with the American people as well as with civilian leaders and junior professionals within the ranks.” (“The Profession of Arms” 2010 page 11) The HR Sergeant plays a major role in the Army Profession.

A group of strong and honorable individuals that are professionals in the Profession of Arms protects the United States of America. We are professionals because we choose to dedicate our lives to our Nation and its people. All Army professionals meet the Army’s certification criteria of competence, character and commitment. The five essentials characteristics of the Army Profession are trust, military expertise, honorable service, esprit de corps and stewardship of the profession. By having these characteristics and practicing them in our daily lives, we have earned the trust of our leaders, peers, subordinates and the citizens of our nation.

Profession is a paid occupation that requires a long period of intense training to become an expert in a particular field. Professionals provide a service. Their experience and knowledge base are trusted by those who seek advice The Army as a Profession of Arms provides a service. Its services are unique, it provides security, ethical professionalism in lethality weapons and operations. The Army profession and professionals are diverse, that are trained in many task.

A Professional Soldier is someone that makes a commitment of servitude to his or her country. An individual willing to adapt to the nation’s ever-changing needs. A soldier that makes a lifelong commitment to learning and becoming a professional in the Army. The Profession of Arms in the Army means to establish firm ground work of character, ethics and unmatched adaptability in times of warfare. Developing the American Soldier and understanding the Profession of Arms will give insight to how it will benefit future generations in the Army.

As the Army transitions from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, the organization is well served to take a long look in the mirror. After ten plus years of deployments, our combat tested warriors are sure to possess more than enough valuable knowledge to reinforce and improve upon our status as a profession. A TRADOC published paper explains “to be a professional is to understand, embrace, and competently practice the expertise of the profession.” I believe the profession of arms exists and there are many components that reinforce this argument. Among these components, initial entry training and institutional learning, shared values, and a monopoly on our mission are three of the most important tenants. All Soldiers must graduate

The question we must ask ourselves is what exactly the Profession of Arms is and what is our role as Human Resource Sergeants (HR Sergeants) what is it that we bring to the fight, what’s our contribution to the Army’s overall objective. As we emerge from years of war, from constant back to back deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, we find ourselves in an era of persistent conflicts where we find ourselves embroiled in conflicts all around the world. In a world that seems more dangerous today than it was yesterday it is important we remain vigilant and remain capable of fighting and winning our nations wars. We must never forget the ethics instilled upon us by the Army. We must hold fast to our Army Values to which our profession is

Soldiers must be prepared to kill and die when needed in service to the Republic.” (An Army White Paper , 2010) The Human Resource Sergeant play a crucial part in preparing all Soldiers in our Commands for just that. We prepare, counsel, document, and manage Soldiers and their careers. Everything we do as professionals directly affects Soldiers and their loved ones. We pay them, process their awards, promotions, leave requests, and life insurance, among many other important duties. We schedule their Periodic Health Assessment’s and Army Physical Fitness Test’s for not only mental but physical readiness. On top of that, we are responsible for preparing briefings, coordinating training schedules and keeping to very strict deadlines. The Human Resource Sergeant is always adapting and overcoming new obstacles.

The Human Resources Sergeant plays a vital role in the Army Profession of Arms. An Army professional must have various attributes of good character and leadership skills and the “Be, Know, Do” qualities to be called a profession at all. All leaders must embrace the challenge of balancing multiple responsibilities at once within their profession in order to accomplish any mission. As a United States Army Human Resources Sergeants, we must always consider the culture of the Army and its Profession as an important factor to mission accomplishment. Human Resources Sergeants are those who provide the services needed for admin functions which in turn fuel’s the Army Profession of Arms.

To the first question, what does it mean for the Army to be a Profession of Arms, there are several terms used to help define the link between the profession and the professional. Each set pulls one word for the Profession and ties it to the Professional; expertise-skill, trust-trust, development-leadership,

To understand whether the Army is a profession of arms, we must understand the term profession and what it takes to be a professional. “Professions use inspirational, intrinsic factors like the life-long pursuit of expert knowledge, the privilege and honor of service, camaraderie, and the status of membership in an ancient, honorable, and revered occupation. This is what motivates true professionals; it‘s why a profession like ours is

The Human Resource Sergeant’s Role in the Army Profession is to take care of our organization in preparing us for what is taking place now and what the future holds. As we quote the creed in stating, “I am an expert, and I am a professional”, we should be experts in our roles and carry out those roles as professionals. We are to take care of soldiers just the way we expect our leaders and counterparts to take care of us in their delegated professions. We play an integral part in everyday tasks and assignments. Similar to NCOs we are the “Backbone” of our organization.

Webster’s dictionary defines the word profession as a type of job that requires special education, training, or skill. Many Soldiers would not consider the Army as a profession but a way of life. Some think the word profession belongs to everyday jobs like a plumber, mechanic, or doctor. Dr. Don M. Snider stated “the Army is a profession because of the expert work it produces, because the people in the Army develop themselves to be professionals, and because the Army certifies them as such” (Snider, D. M. 2008). In October 2010, the Secretary of the Army directed the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) to lead an Army wide assessment of the state of the Army Profession. We have been at war as a Country for over a decade and the Army

Think of a car traveling down a road and all of a sudden, the road ends and there is a river. Luckily, there is a bridge and you can safely cross and continue driving down the road. Human Resources is the bridge that keeps things running effectively in combat operations as well as at your home station. The role Human Resources plays in the Profession of Arms is vital. The Human Resource Sergeant understands that their overall objective is to account for personnel and ensure those personnel are mission ready in all facets.

The Army is a profession because it requires a collaboration of highly training Soldiers who possess specialized skills that combine to operate in complex situations in more complex environments. General Martin Dempsey stated that “The Profession of Arms requires expert knowledge, and that expertise is manifested as unique skills in the individual professional and by Army units.” For the purpose of this paper the operational definition of the term profession is: a type of job that requires special education training, or skill. In order to meet and maintain the demands of this definition, The Army has established the Army Development Model which consists of institutions, operational training, and self-development to create highly skilled service members.

What is a profession? First and foremost let’s look at how we can define a profession from a general point. A profession is an occupation requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation. Profession doesn’t mean only to be perfectly prepared on the basis of theoretical aspects, but to meet the strict criteria as well. A good professional should be a leader and leadership means solving problems. Leaders can be assessed according to the amount of resolved problems. Everybody has a tendency to be successful, in trying this; a successful leader has to be confident in his decisions. It follows from that, that generally we can consider the leader as an expert, a matured personality, somebody who meets the high