Profession of Arms

The Army exists for a solitary reason, which is to serve the Nation by defending the constitution of the United States of America. Our country places trust in the Army to defend our constitution against foreign and domestic enemies. It is our responsibility to preserve this given responsibility at all cost. American Forces returned from direct involvement in Vietnam and great majorities of Soldiers at the time lost credibility for their role in the War. Public trust in the Army was at its lowest. The priority after the war was to repair the trust in the Army, which eventually led to the All-Volunteer force that we have today. This action reinvigorated the Army and during that 20 year span of time the Army established itself as countries most esteemed

As the Profession of Arms, we have the unique trust of the American public. As

In the article The Profession of Arms, the author conveys key attributes that form and define the Profession of Arms as well as the makeup of the professional soldier. It can easily be identified that the Profession of Arms was established with the Federal Statute, Title 10, U.S. Code, which established the legal foundation of the U.S. Army, now 243 years of governance and institution. Additionally, many historical events, such Desert Shield – Desert Storm, have shaped the Profession of Arms into what it is today. A general understanding of the key attributes of the Army as profession, its culture, its ethics, and its external relations establish the bases of the U.S. Army’s beliefs and values.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of an Army white paper, the “Profession of Arms.” The U.S. Army should be “The Profession of Arms” and each soldier should be “The Professional Soldier.” (U.S. Army, 2010). It is important for “The Profession of Arms” to develop expertise, trust, development values, and service at the organizational level (U.S. Army, 2010) l. Also, it is crucial for “The Professional Soldier” to develop skill, trust, leadership, character, and duty at the individual level (U.S. Army, 2010). So, the “Profession of Arms” is comprised of experts and experienced soldiers who dedicate their lives to defend the U.S. Constitution and the American way of life (U.S. Army, 2010).

The purpose of this document is to provide a standard for what the Army, as a profession of arms, should look like, in order to begin a discussion to see if the Army is achieving this standard. In doing so, the author defines the key attributes of a profession of arms, describes the Army’s professional culture, and discusses the Army Ethic.

What does it mean to be a profession? Before reading this article, I would think being a professional was about your military bearing, your attention to detail, accomplishing the mission, taking care of Soldiers, and having a positive attitude. I’ve worn this uniform for eight years and I always had an outlook on what a professional Soldier involved. After reading the article a professional Soldier almost was the exact thing I thought a professional would be. In addition, the article would also reference to a professional taking time to progress. Professionalism isn’t something that comes overnight and how to be a professional needs to be geared with developmental training.

The Profession of Arms (POA) is defined as a vocation of comprised experts certified in the ethical application in land combat power, serving under civilian authority entrusted to defend the constitution and the rights and the interests of the American people. The main focus of the POA is to train existing and new coming Soldiers to be professionals and experts in their field. Being a professional you are not inspired by salary, or benefits. As a Solider, you are in pursuit of lifelong knowledge the privilege of honor and service. As a leader, you will have challenges because other individuals look to you for absolution and guidance.

The Army is comprised of Soldiers from different backgrounds, cultures and ethnic views, coming together to wear one name: United States Army. Each Soldier’s journey starts the same: learning the core values and the Soldier’s Creed. Each Profession in the Army has a key

Let’s start by defining what a profession is. Professions produce uniquely expert work, not routine or repetitive work. Types of professions are medicine, theology, law, and the military. Whereas the Professionals require years

Providing expert customer service, building trust, and enhancing tactical and technical knowledge are just a few qualities expected when considering Profession of Arms. Through numerous deployments by my peers and I have shown that determination, training, and embodying the army standards are essential qualities every junior NCO needs to possess to accomplish the mission successfully. Chaos and continuous conflict have transformed the Army into a complex network of missions overseas with little to no room for error. Soldiers have done an outstanding job of accomplishing their duties and portraying the Army in a positive light. However, this doesn’t make the Army a profession as stated in the article, “Our client, the American people, gets to make that judgment of the extent to which we are a profession and they will do so based on the bond of trust we create with them based on the

A substantive definition for profession has been elusive in the literature review; therefore, a profession can be constructively defined as a full-time, remunerated, services-oriented vocation governed by a code of ethics and based on

A professional is someone who has devoted a substantial amount of time to the development of the skills and qualities—academically and personally—specific to his or her field of interest. One of those many qualities is professionalism. However, unlike the title “professional,” professionalism cannot be grasped at some single point in time. Professionalism is a forever-moving goal, and even once an individual reaches a place where he or she is deemed professional, that person must continue to strive towards professionalism.

An occupation does not become a profession merely because its members decide it will be one. Modem professions share much in common with classical professions. The Hallmarks that have come to characterize a profession are based on a midevel models: a guild, high level of education, public recognition, and a specialized body of knowledge.

The term professional has always been loosely associated with the Army since its official organization in 1775. The title of Army professional in the past was restricted to only the officer ranks discarding Soldiers and the Non-Commissioned Officers. The fluctuating opinions of the professional Army was mostly due to social definitions of a professional, and the Army’s ability to meet its criteria. The Army is a profession because it requires specialized skills and human expertise, establishes ethical behavior for its members, and contain members who embrace and are stewards of the culture.

Professional soldiers differ from the ordinary citizen particularly in psychological and personal characteristics and qualities. A soldier professional does not want a war, but he wants to be prepared for the worst possible variant of development. We can say that working in the armed forces is characterized by several attributes. I think the expert work, self-improvement, ethics, fulltime commitment and discipline are the most important ones. The expert work comes out from the requirements for controlling highly specialized equipment and procedures that occur only under the conditions of the armed forces. For example, an engineer knows the procedures for mine-clearing, building floating bridges, command and controlling submarines, fire control of air defense systems, logistic equipment transfers and many others. All of these activities call for a maximal professional approach and adherence to precisely specified procedures, which can be achieved only by professionals with many years of experience. So, to move forward and improve our professionalism it is very important to consider self-improvement. In my opinion, learning from experienced master soldiers, be active in self learning and have good motivation are the right ways to succeed. A profession of arms can be, and it certainly is, a dangerous way to meet our life necessities. It would be quite ridiculous if somebody stated he worked for armed forces only for loyalty to the