White Paper In The Army

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.

In 2010 the Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) published and distributed a white paper concerning the nature of the profession of arms. This piece was intended to be a framework for discussion between military members in order to identify the current state of and the way ahead for the Army as an organization. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the ideas held therein.

Human Resources (HR) Professionals at all levels must have a basic understanding of what it means to live the Army Values, both on and off duty. Being an HR Professional inherently means one serves in the Army and, therefore, the Army values are not optional notions or cliché sayings; they are an expectation. The Army Values feed into the ethics, or moral fabric, of the Army like gas to an engine, requiring a constant supply in order to run in a frictionless fashion. Likewise, In the Army White Paper, “The Profession of Arms” (2010) it emphasizes, “The U.S Army’s Professional Ethic is built on trust with the American people…” (p. 2).

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.

In conclusion, the direction of the Army will advance forward in a professional manner that reflects a Profession in Arms and a Professional Soldier. I believe that understanding the importance of what it means for the Army to be a Profession of Arms and what it means to be a professional Soldier displays respect and pride in the eyes of the American People. This respect and pride re-enforces trust and continues to build hope for the

Webster’s dictionary defines the word profession as a type of job that requires special education, training, or skill. Many Soldiers would not consider the Army as a profession but a way of life. Some think the word profession belongs to everyday jobs like a plumber, mechanic, or doctor. Dr. Don M. Snider stated “the Army is a profession because of the expert work it produces, because the people in the Army develop themselves to be professionals, and because the Army certifies them as such” (Snider, D. M. 2008). In October 2010, the Secretary of the Army directed the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) to lead an Army wide assessment of the state of the Army Profession. We have been at war as a Country for over a decade and the Army

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

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

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

The Army Profession works with expert knowledge to assure the nation’s security. Being an expert at their job will lead them to earn the trust of who they are serving through their ethics, because our expert work is vital to society there is a trust between the profession and society (An Army White Paper, 2010). That trust is earned by effectively and ethically applying military expertise on the American society’s behalf, and by ensuring that members of the Army Profession continue to serve honorably. There are five essential characteristics of the Army Profession: Military Expertise, Honorable Service, Trust, Esprit de Corps, and Stewardship of Profession (An Army White Paper, 2010). Trust is the foundation of the Army Profession and the

Over the past decade, we the Army have faced so many challenges evolved around conflict, which caused us to phase away from the “art of garrison command.” (p. 1). While we have established strengths in flexibility and willpower throughout times of war we have battled in the area of maintaining our uppermost standards of the profession of arms. Not only is training and educating Soldiers on the profession of arms important, but understanding of the concept of “The professional Soldier” (p. 4), is a vital tool in getting us as a profession where we need to be.

Despite recent calls for constitutional protections in a military court of law, a soldier continues to be barred from many due process privileges enjoyed in civilian courts. The soldier is stripped of dignity by public reduction in rank, status and removal from his or her

In today’s military, professionalism is a key component of our mission. According to the “Profession

Most of us know that ethics are the norms that determine between right and wrong. We learn these norms from the day we born and we use them on a daily basis. Ethical norms start from families, kindergarden, school, and work. They are different in religions, in cultures, in societies, and in different countries, but in their roots, they are the same. The laws copied from ethics are natural laws. During war we kill and torture people which is considered to be unethical but, there are some issues that we accept things which we don’t have to. War has always been and will continue to be a necessary action executed by human beings. There are many reasons for wars such as territorial issues, religion factors, and ethnic factors. And when the disagreements between two parties cannot be solved in a peaceful way, the war is the last option to be conducted. For this reason, the Geneva Convention sets international standards and laws which are a protection for humanity in other circumstances. “Professionals are guided by their ethics: the set of principles by which they practice, in the right way, on behalf of those they serve - demonstrating their characters” (General Raymond T. Odierno 2014). The importance of military ethics in 21st century is very valuable. In order to find out the importance, moral within ethics, ethical challenges and ethical categories with examples will be discussed.

Thesis: The role of private military contractors (PMCs) has expanded tremendously since the end of the Cold War when western governments began the process of trimming their bloated military forces. As privatization commenced, governments began to rely upon a new kind of contractor that sold not only hardware but also manpower and expertise. Even as conventional military forces declined, the need for highly capable, professional soldiers remained pressing, especially in conflict prone areas around the world. PMCs filled these gaps, providing military assistance, advice, and security services to governments, companies, and NGOs. However, the role of these companies, and the legal framework surrounding them remains up for debate, and recent cases of misconduct with deadly consequences only muddy the waters further. The question remains: do PMCs serve to help or hurt human rights in areas where they are deployed? In this paper, I will argue that PMCs do have a critical role in the modern battlefield as providers of logistical, training, and security services, but their use in offensive actions or assistance with so called “black operations” should be circumscribed to the point of nonexistence. I will analyze two cases studies where PMCSs were deployed: Iraq and Sierra Leone to determine the positive and negative ramifications of their deployment. PMCs have upheld human rights in the vast majority of areas where they have been deployed, and it has not been shown that they are