The Poa White Paper: The Profession Of Arms

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

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.

ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCES SERGEANT IN THE PROFESSION OF ARMS What it means to be a profession is purposely written in the Army Soldier's creed, culture values, ethics, and credibility. In the Role of the Human Resources Sergeant those attributes are used in order to maintain the stability and effectiveness of the Profession of Arms. In other words it allows them to be able to maintain the survival of the profession. Over the past decade, or era, of persistent conflict and campaigns, the Army has been continuously working and providing the defenseless society a strong security.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

The Five essential characteristics of an Army professional are as follows: Trust, Honorable service, Esprit de Corps, Military expertise, and Stewardship of the Profession. Reading over these words, I slowly start to realize that a slight and subtle divide accrues in my mind when I begin to define what each of these traits mean to me. On the one side, you have the book answer and what the Army has concluded encompasses all the things needed to possess these traits and on the other side, you have what you see on an everyday basis. I understand and have been in situations where it is all too easy to take the trials of today and place them at the top of the list of things to do tomorrow, but I am also aware that nothing worth having comes easy

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