Military Profession

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.

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.

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

Balancing the role of the Professional Leader has been an ongoing issue for the Army since the latter decades of the 19th century when the U.S. Army was professionalized. The Army has struggled with the matter of balancing a force as massive as the Army. When out of balance the Army does not have the capability to send Soldiers where they are needed. During the Second War in Iraq it was obvious that the Army was not upholding this balance, junior leaders in the Army were fighting against a counterinsurgency campaign that they were ill prepared to handle due to a lack of necessary experience and equipment.

The Human Resources Sergeant has a crucial role in the Profession of Arms. Over the last decades, the Army faced multiples challenges, in which the leaders has

Army Doctrine Reference Publication 1-0 states, “living by and upholding the moral principles of the Army Ethic” is the foundation to our profession. An organization cannot survive if there are no foundation for morals. The organization will internally implode. This is a critical fact for the Army. Individuals that do not have a foundation that aligns with the Army’s foundation is detrimental to the organization. The purpose for this short paper is to explore the fundamentals of our profession; examine the need for structure; how to return to basics of the profession; who needs to enforce standards; finally, implementing a culture change within the Army. Army leaders have categorized the four problems that currently plague the Army

(Dempsey, 2011)” In the spirit of those words, the Army White Paper, The Profession of Arms provides a framework to describe the Army’s vision of a professional, the Army culture, and its responsibilities to the Nation. The foundation of a profession is cemented in trust, thus the Army trusts its professionals to advance in areas of expertise and exemplify the attributes of the profession. The Army’s area of expertise are the military-technical, human development, moral-ethical, and political-cultural.

Human Resources is not the first thought when thinking of the United States Army. Generally, most individuals might think of War, Infantry, Rangers, or even Marines. These are not unreasonable ideas, considering that the Army is a Profession of Arms, and it exists to defend the United States by means of combat. Combat-specific roles are foundational to the Army, but they do not transport, feed, or pay themselves. They require tremendous support to be successful. The Army seeks to “conduct…full spectrum operations inclusive of offense, defense, and stability or civil support operations” (Army White, p. 4). Consequently, the Army is comprised of experts in numerous fields. The HR Sergeant is one of these experts. As a profession, the Army

In order to understand how the Human resource Sergeant fits a role in the Profession of Arms, we must understand what a Profession is. The definition of a Profession is job that requires special education, training, or skill, often gained through lengthy years of study and practice. Deeper than that it is uniquely expert work that values effectiveness over efficiency. We as Soldiers spend years honing our craft either formally in our Noncommissioned Officer Education System or in our organic training within our Units. It is through this constant training over time that mold us into the subject matter experts of our work. Professions earn trust through their Ethic (moral values) allowing them to work with less external oversight, trusted to self-correct on its own accord. We have proven time and again that we have the

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

Leadership, according to the Army doctrine, represents individuals’ ability to influence people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization (“Leadership” FM 6-22). However, the varying characteristics of individuals that the Army attracts may instill this doctrine in many different ways, leading to different representations of leadership. Some individuals choose to lead their subordinate in a stern matter, only displaying matured emotions and a “tough-loving” attitude to guide them in the right direction. Others

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 -

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.