The Army Profession

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.

In order for the Army to be a profession, the American people need to determine and declare us a profession. We provide security and defense to our citizens and in exchange, they trust and honor that our decisions are for the benefit of our nation. The people do not regulate the Army, but they trust that the Army regulates itself thru its ethic. I quote, “The Army Ethic is the evolving set of laws, values, and beliefs, deeply embedded within the core of the Army culture and practiced by all members of the Army Profession to motivate and guide the appropriate conduct of individual members bound together in common moral purpose.” Laws alone will not make a soldier a professional; it is the way the army educates, motivates and shapes a soldier to become a professional. A competent professional with a strong character and commitment

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.

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

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.

The main idea of this publication is to create a collective understanding of the Army Profession by providing the Service members the guidelines and definitions of it and the Army Ethic. Fail to follow or even understand the concept of rules of behavior based on ideas about what is morally good and bad have been the reason of studies, due to the consequences this could bring upon the service. This publication defines the membership and affiliation of competent individuals in character and commitment, five essential characteristics legitimize the Army as a military profession, trust, military expertise, honorable service, spirit de corps, and stewardship. Trust is vital in society at school, at work, at home, among the citizens, trust in the skills of those you depend on, and trust that the mail will be deliver to your home to give an example. American people perhaps have lost or are close to lose the trust in the highest level of government being this the direct orchestrator of the actions perform by the armed forces, after planning and rehearsals every move is directed and now that the population does not support or agreed with many of these actions government has to act to regain the support and reassurance of the masses. American people as society trust their arm forces to perform their duty to protect them and their country, support and defend the constitution society trust the strongest Army in the world due to the technology it possess and the will soldiers have

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.

Since the beginning of the Army in 1775 till now, there have been many changes. We have gone from an all conscription Army to a completely volunteer force. We have gone through wars and times of peace. Gone from being praised, to being spit on, and back again. Through all the changes there has been one constant and that is the pride taken by all Soldiers in being called a Quiet Professional. It does not matter if the Soldier is at their home station or on the front lines, we all want to do our job, or profession, as professional as possible.

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

A profession is a calling, something that takes work and dedication. There are levels of training and life commitment that go into a profession. In the military it comes with career progression or self-development, be that effective leader by always striving to move forward, and become a subject expert.

A Profession of Arms. It is a title that the United States Army currently holds. A Profession that is uniquely separates us based on the lethality of our weapons and operations. Many factors are involved that make what we do in the Army a Profession and not just a job or an occupation. To maintain this idea that what we do is a Profession takes understanding what a Profession is, a tenuous balance by leadership and the culture of the professionals within. As a Human Resource Sergeants, we do not carry the Arms that grant us our lethality, yet we still have a vital role within this Profession of Arms.

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.