Informative Paper Profession of Arms

Information Paper

Army White Paper was written after the direction of the Secretary of the Arms and the Army Chief of Staff to make a review of the Army Profession due to changes in the Army after nine years of continuous wars. To conduct this review there are 3 critical questions that needs answer.

1. What does it mean for the Army to be a Profession of Arms?
2. What does it mean to be a Professional Soldier?
3. After nine years of war, how are we as individual professionals and as profession meeting these aspirations?

Purpose of the document is to create the appropriate framework for discussion to answer this questions.

In the first section the document answers the fundamental question “What does it mean to be a Profession?”. It also formulates and analyses two important definitions. The Profession of Arms is defined as a vocation comprised of experts certified in the ethical application of land combat power, serving under civilian authority, entrusted to defend the Constitution and the rights and interests of the American people. The Professional Soldier is defined as an expert, a volunteer certified in the Profession of Arms, bonded with comrades in a shared identity and culture of sacrifice and service to the nation and the Constitution, who adheres to the highest ethical standard and is steward of the future of the Army Profession.

The second section refers to the Army’s Professional Culture and in which way may the Army Culture influences on the Profession. There are three levels of Army Culture, Artifacts, Espoused Beliefs and Values, and Basic Underlying Assumptions. From latter three major dimensions derive, Professional Identity, Community and Hierarchy. These are the focus points for the leaders during the transition of the Army to the new era.

The third section grapples with the Army Ethic and proposes the following definition : The moral values, principiles and martial virtues embedded in its culture that inspire and regulate ethical behavior by both Soldiers and the U.S. Army in the application of land combat in defines of and service to the Nation. It is essential for our leaders to know why we fight and how we fight so that they can teach it to the soldiers.

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