The Poa White Paper: The Profession Of Arms

The HR Sergeant provides a broader framework for the Profession of Arms. The HR Sergeant is a unique individual that lives to service others before themselves. They are experts in their field that provides assistance to the Army Soldiers and adapts to the constant changes. HR Sergeants live by the Warrior Ethos and their dedication to the mission earns the respect of their peers and subordinates. Leading by example is a way of life for the HR Sergeant. Putting others before themselves, completing the required training in order to service others, and living by the Warrior Ethos and the NCO

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.

Second, the Army is governed by two related ethos. On the first day of initial training Soldiers are taught the importance of the seven Army values and begin to memorize the Soldier’s Creed. Like doctors and lawyers, “the military is an expert group, charged by its client to conduct work governed by a professional ethic” according to Lieutenant General Robert Caslen. A recent study commissioned by the Army found that 93% of Soldiers share their personal with the one set by the Army. Again, according to Caslen “the Army Values have sustained our institution through some of our most difficult years and will continue to be the foundation of our profession.”

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.

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.

The Human Resource Sergeant keeps commanders, Command Sergeants Major and First Sergeants informed of the administrative needs of their unit by constantly pulling reports. These reports can denote deficiencies that can effect unit readiness.

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 be recognized as a profession, a group or individual should learn and obtain the special training in a particular skill or job. The group or individual personnel must possess leadership attributes and standards. We as HR personnel need to understand that we should examine ourselves as a profession (the Profession of Arms) and ensure that we understand and are living up to the principles that define us as a profession. Also, between the lines of the Soldier’s creed and the Army values lies the definition of what it means to be an Army profession. As an Army Human Resource profession we need to review, reemphasize, and recommit back to our profession.

The importance of the role of Human Resources Sergeant in the Profession of Arms is not solely based off of one factor. Many different factors, principles and guidelines go into the roles and profession. Human Resources Leaders have a responsibility to not only understand the importance of of their efforts and unit mission, but also the mission of all their supported and supporting units (FM 1-0, 1-3) .

The HRS role holds together the other professionals which makes the HRS an important part of the Profession of Arms. Many may believe that HRSs simply sit in the office and stare at a computer all day while other Soldiers handle the dirty work. However, this is not the case. HRS Soldiers have to continuously navigate through thousands of pages from Army regulations to ensure that the Soldier is supported in every way.

In the army field profession, its culture is characterized by a desire for stability, formal roles and teamwork between the soldiers. On the other hand, the army’s professional culture focus on flexibility, participation and a long-term emphasis on professional development coupled with acquisition of professional skills and knowledge. Similarly, the army profession upholds trust within the army field and ensuring consistence within the ethics of the army (According to Snider, 2014).

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