Trust In The Army Profession

Ethics Theory for the Military Professional by Chaplin (COL) Samuel D. Maloney illustrates the complex ethical decision making process. Army Leaders are responsible for professionally, and ethically develop subordinates. Developing unethical subordinates in a zero defect Army is a leadership challenge. Goal-Oriented Aspirations, Rule-Oriented Obligations, and Situation-Oriented Decisions provide leaders an understanding of the ethical decision making process. The first step to Professionally developing subordinates is identifying, and providing input on all subordinate goals. Leaders are obligated to enforce rules and regulations. Understanding subordinate character provides leaders with the information to evaluate a soldier’s integrity. However,

Integrity is one of the Army’s core values and one of the cornerstones of the army. The cornerstones of the army are important because they are the very fundamentals that we all must live to uphold. We must always embody and live up to the core beliefs and fundamentals of the army. We must try every day to respect and uphold the army core values and beliefs. These core beliefs are what all the rest of the army beliefs and discipline is built upon in the founding of the army. If we live up to the core beliefs of the army, we are honoring all who have served before. We also honor all those who have yet to serve by leaving the service better than we came to it. We are also honoring all those who have paid the ultimate price for their country. If, we cannot live to uphold the very fundamentals and the very cornerstones of the army way of life then we are letting our peers, subordinates, and senior leaders down. Not only are we letting our peers, subordinates, and senior leaders down but we are letting down all those who have come before and all those yet to come into the service. Not only are we letting our army down we are also letting down all the people who we defend, protect, help and support around the world. By the lack of integrity, we cause our fellow soldiers, leaders, and their families’ trouble as well. We also lose the trust of our peers, and we ostracize our self into becoming the outcast of

What is one of the most important elements used in relation building in the military? Trust, personal growth from friendships becomes challenging without the presents of this crucial element. Without trust, individual’s confidence in all echelons of leadership and their subordinates ability to complete missions would diminish a unit’s morale and loyalty.

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.

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.

Through the teaching and instilment of how we do things as soldiers and discipline, we honor and respect the rich heritage which the Army is built on, while also ensuring the future success of the Army and the soldiers who come after us by, inspiring us to adhere to and exceed the standard. One of the standards you learn in the early training phases in the military is right place, right time right uniform. Standards and discipline are the foundation of what is professionally, legally, and morally correct and as such instills trust in ourselves and our fellow comrades. It is this definitive trust in one another, in our leaders, and in the Army that Creates and strengthens our esprit de corps, sense of pride, and our Army culture. My leaders had trust in me being a senior lower enlisted

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

There are no short cuts to building trust however MG Hooker did his best to expediently revamp an Army plagued with issues. His first task was to tackle moral. He accomplished this through reorganizing the Army’s structure, implementing regular drills, sanitary standards, and a furlough program (Gallagher, p. 5, 2007). Under GEN Burnside the Army was structured in three grand divisions. He divided his force into seven corps and implemented a system of corps badges. The badge system was an instant hit with the Soldiers and Officers. They built pride through belonging to a particular

While these three points are extensively discussed and dissected, it is apparent that the key factor that makes us professionals is the ethical standard that we must hold every individual soldier, from the lowest private to the highest general, to. One of the major points that are missing is what happens when the ethical standard is breeched and how it is dealt with.

In order to build cohesive teams, trust has to be mutual. But more from Soldiers to leaders. When Soldiers can rely on their leader, they will also trust peers.

Trust between peers knowing that your battle buddy has your back in combat and trusting that the next guy on guard duty won’t fall asleep and let the enemy through the gates while you’re sleeping. Trust between Soldiers and their leaders. Leaders build trust through his or her competence, character, and commitment (ADRP1, 2013). Trust between Soldiers their families and the Army. I trust the FRG will keep my family informed when I am unable to and provide assistance in my absence. There is also Trust between civilians and the Army. The country trusts us to serve and protect the Constitution. Trust is a very essential part of our profession and is only earned not given.

The U.S. Army Leadership Field Manual clearly states that Army leaders and soldiers alike must uphold ethical standards of behavior in war. It also states that "unethical behavior quickly destroys organizational morale and cohesion it undermines the trust and confidence essential to teamwork and mission accomplishment. Consequently doing the right thing forges strong character in individuals and expands to create a culture of trust

As a Military Officer, I know that I will be held to the highest standards of discipline and professionalism by society. Society will expect me to be a man of integrity; trustworthiness, and sound judgment, capable of training their sons and daughters. Officers are forced to make decisions on a daily basis that could potentially affect the lives of millions

LANTCOM command did not foster a climate of mutual trust during Operation Urgent Fury. Trust is essential element during operations. Senior leader must trust the abilities of subordinates and subordinates must have trust in senior leaders. The lack of mutual trust began at the senior level of military command and continued during the execution of Operation Urgent Fury. The JCS rejected LANCOM’s attempts to blend ground forces and established boundary lines between ground forces. Additionally, subordinate commanders did not trust the LANTCOM. During the initial ground operations, a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division came under attack. Instead of requesting reinforcements through joint operation channels, the request for reinforcement went directly to the 82nd Airborne Division rear staff. Mutual trust is difficult to build during operations. US armed forces must seek every opportunity to conduct joint training exercises to build mutual trust before operations. Joint exercises develop habitual relationships among the services and promote mutual trust. The lack of mutual trust not only affects command and control but other joint function such as intelligence.

Trust is the foundation of the Profession of Arms. Commanders must build cohesive teams through mutual trust. Commanders need to focus on creating an environment where mutual trust can flourish and this can be very challenging. Since comes from people, there are really no shortcuts, trust takes time to build.