Five Characteristics Of The Military

The Army White Paper, The Profession of Arms, provides an insight into what it means for the Army to be a Profession of Arms, what it means to be a professional Soldier, and how Soldiers individually and as a profession meet these aspirations after a decade of war. The Army is made up of numerous jobs that have multiple roles. One in particular is the Human Resource Sergeant. HR Sergeants are a profession of its own; they provide a broader framework for the Profession of Arms, balance the role of the Profession’s leaders, and are greatly influenced by the Army’s professional culture.

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.

In this report I will be going over the importance of training and education within the military, and how they both play very important roles to not only leaders, but the service members within our ranks. The military is constantly training and, we train as we fight. However, before soldiers train, they must be well educated in all areas in which they will be training. Proper education is the key to proper training. I will also discuss the importance of becoming better educated while serving in the military, as it will make transitioning back into the

Professionals from various fields work together to build a structurally sound foundation that cannot be shaken. This foundation is the cornerstone on which the Profession of Arms relies. The Army’s professional expertise are rallied in four branches: military-technical expertise, human development expertise, moral-ethical expertise and political-cultural expertise. They are broad areas that allow the Army to operate as a force.

Stewardship of the Army Profession is the last of the Five Essential Characteristics of the Army Profession, but in terms of importance, it is just as, if not more important than the other four. The United States Army’s ADRP-1, or Army Doctrinal Reference Publication 1, even defines stewardship as “the responsibility of Army professionals to ensure the profession maintains its five essential characteristics now and into the future”. Such importance is placed on this characteristic because Stewardship of the Army Profession is the one that ensures the other four are maintained. I sought out the definition of stewardship because despite having spent almost three and a half years and West Point, I was not entirely sure what the doctrine behind Stewardship was. In doing this, I felt like I was better prepared for both this paper and ensuring that the corrections I made were stewarding the profession. With this newly acquired knowledge, I set out to make my corrections.

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

Army leaders must balance the link between the Army’s culture and it’s climate and institutional practices. When there is a proper balance it has a huge impact on the mindset of the Army’s Soldiers. Their actions or inactions impacts the five key attributes of the profession, and the four fields of expertise, and have long term effects on the Army’s culture and climate. These actions influence Soldiers’ perceptions that they are serving professional who have answered the call of service to the republic, it is important that Soldiers understand that their role is a calling and not just a job.

Five characteristics define the Army as a Profession. These characteristics are honorable service, stewardship of the profession, military expertise, esprit de corps, and trust. According to ADRP 1-0, as a military profession, our relationship with the American people is built on a foundation of trust continuously reinforced by the other four characteristics. Mission accomplishment, reputation, and survivability of the Army are all reliant on trust. Therefore, I believe that trust is the most important characteristic and is the bedrock of the Army’s relationship with the American people.

As a unique military profession, the army is built upon an ethos of trust. What are 4 other characteristics of our profession?

Trust is the foundational attribute that every professional Soldier should possess. Despite sustained military conflicts throughout the world over the past thirteen years, we have still been able to maintain firm belief in our reliability as an Army. When it comes to confidence from the public other organizations such as the police, the government, the media, and various other organizations do not have the same level of trust that the American people have in us. Trust is the most important of the five characteristics of the Army profession. Without trust we would lose the support of the American public, trust is the embodiment of our profession, and trust drives the four other characteristics of the Army profession.

Military Expertise is the next characteristic in the Army profession. In chapter three of (ADRP1) it states “Military expertise is the design, generation, support, and ethical application of land power, primarily in unified land operation, and all supporting capabilities essential to accomplish the mission in defense of the American people” (ADRP1, 2013). That would explain military expertise as a whole for the Army but, there are a lot of different experts within the Army profession. Inside the Army profession there are many different professions and professionals an example would be the aviation branch compared to the combat arms branch two way different professionals within the same Army profession. It takes every ones expertise working together to make the army work as well as it does. Military

Every uniformed Army professional knows the Soldier’s Creed. The tenth line of the Soldier’s Creed - “I am an expert and I am a professional,” is a powerful statement recited during significant occasions including enlistments, graduations, first formations, promotion boards, change of command ceremonies, and deployment ceremonies. The NCO Creed even includes the bold statement, “No one is more professional than I,” in the opening line. For these words to ring true, the Army must deliver training sufficient to certify professional Soldiers and leaders at all levels. The Army’s ability to recognize this need and adapt its methods speaks volumes for the Profession of Arms. The three components of the Army’s leadership model -

Professionals in the United States Army stand apart from others engaged in particular careers in the civilian world. While many vocations contain some of the characteristics of professional, a lot of careers do not include all of the elements necessary to distinguish themselves as being as close to a professional as a United States soldier. Professionalism grows depending on the time and service they have in the Army. A professional has specialized knowledge and skill which can only be acquired through prolonged education and experience. Such skill and experience form the basis of objective standards of professional competence that separate the practicing professional from their peers and

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.

In other words, the Army’s mission is to deploy when needed and to win in combat in support of the interests of the United States. It conducts training and operations in every part of the world with 520,000 active duty Soldiers in 223 occupational specialties or jobs. The mission seems relatively simple but recruiting Soldiers to fulfill this mission and retaining them is much more difficult than one would realize. I will present a few of the benefits in the Army’s EVP that motivate Soldiers to “be the best they can be” to make America and the world a better place.