Trust. The Key to the Army Profession The U.S. military exists solely for the purpose to fight and win our nation's wars, a task which largely involves supporting the country's political, constitutional, and civil objectives on a global scale. Therefore, the relationship between the Army and the citizens it protects is paramount not just to the successful execution of military operations, but the strategic defensible goals of the nation. To foster such a relationship and develop the Army as an organization centered on professionalism and the highest degree of ethics, the Army developed ADRP 1: The Army Profession. ADRP 1, Chapter 3, is the most important trait with respect to the duty positions and responsibilities of a captain in the US …show more content…
First, ADRP 1 defines five (5) essential characteristics of the Army profession: (1) Trust, (2) Military Expertise, (3) Honorable Service, (4) Esprit de Corps, and (5) Stewardship of the Profession (U.S. Department of the Army, 2013). Of the five characteristics, trust serves as the core link between the Army the citizens that it serves. Without trust, the other tenants of the Army profession will eventually fail. Specifically, the ADRP describes two (2) types of trust: (1) Internal and (2) External. Internal trust is responsible for the relationships of the individuals within the Army; it is essential for the conduct of good order and discipline as internal trust ensures that subordinates and trust their leaders to be fair and leaders and trust their subordinates will follow legal orders. As a Captain in the Army, it is essential that one can build their organization on a …show more content…
In The Silent Crisis, author Gregory Foster argues that prolonged conflicts over the last three decades have led to a moral and ethical breakdown in Army professionalism resulting in widespread violence, sexual assault, and other heinous crimes. The obvious departure from the Army’s established values results in a divisive civilian-military relationship in which the public is unable to trust that members of the Army will refrain from use of excessive force or conducting immoral acts. In such situations, the Army can still be experts of their trade, maintain esprit de corps, and be stewards of the profession, but without trust the Army will quickly lose operational support and will eventually collapse or cease to exist as a service to the public which it now serves. Unfortunately, as the Army continues to wage it’s 15-year-old War on Terrorism and as personnel become wary of continuous deployments, moral and ethical dilemmas are becoming increasingly more commonplace in the news. Similarly, the sheer length of combat operations in the Middle East have led to an erosion of popular support which may have been at its height immediately following the events on 9/11. These variables combine to produce an environment where civilians are less likely to trust and support military
American soldiers are ethical warriors. Military ethics and warrior ethos constitute the two fundaments of the Army’s Code of Honor. One cannot be separated from the other. This obligation has applied for ages to those who held power: "science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul," as wrote Rabelais in the early seventeenth century. More than ever, soldiers need ethic references to guide their actions and prevail, especially in a Counter-insurgency environment where excessive use of force jeopardizes mission accomplishment. Whatever the situation might be, soldiers must be able to use their science of war with restraint, discernment, and ethics. Recent bad experiences proved that the Army should advocate this ethical military obligation with humility and determination.
The second proponent in carrying out functions related to the Army Profession and Ethic is a web-based resource named CAPE (Center for the Army Profession and Ethic). CAPE is fairly similar to The Army White paper, in terms of topics. Subsequently, both publications provide an overview of the Profession of
The U.S Military is very one of the biggest and strongest branches ever in the US Especially The US Army Branch is why I chose this specific branch,It was started in June 14,1775.But as becoming a Soldier you would have to be a strong minded individual entering this stage is just pretty much something really big to take into ,You can make this out of a life long career into this with plenty of opportunities in life as being a Soldier,There are two options when your are signing your contract you can either go Active Duty or Reserves,when you are choosing your job while being evaluated for your jobs there are so many jobs you can choose from or help being it chosen for.
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.
Being able to live the Army’s ethic is becoming ever so difficult with budget and personnel cuts which is bringing down the morale of the organization. Leaders are facing challenges to balance the organization to do more work with less personnel. The first way strategic leaders are working to create balance is defining the role of strategic leaders, the sergeants major, colonels, and general officers in the four fields of expertise (listed above) and our operational future (Army White Paper, page 9). The second area we must balance is the Army’s culture and climate and its institutional practices. With the “do more with less” mindset, leaders are facing a hardship retaining the hard charging Soldiers the organization is looking for. We need to create a balance at all echelons that creates commitment, satisfaction and the well-being of our Soldiers and their families. If a Soldier wants to make the military a lifelong career, strategic leaders must set controls in place for Soldier development, evaluation, certification, and duty assignments to motivate professionals as the Army’s culture evolves.
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.
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.
“Within the Army, trust serves as a vital organizing principle that establishes the conditions necessary for effective and ethical mission command and a profession that continues to earn the trust of the American people” (pg. 2-1). Civilian authorities and the people the Army protects and fights for must never doubt the integrity of the Army. True belief in just acts forms a bond between the military and the civilian domain that is vital to function as a complete enterprise where both entities better the
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.
For employees of the U.S Military including the air force, army, navy, marine and coastal guards, one can get tax advice and help from the free tax services provided by the Armed Forces Tax Council. These services are provided at different levels. If you are in the military or you are a veteran, you can find out more about these free services by enquiring from your local administrative office. Below is the structure of this free military tax service:
The too frequent moral failures of senior leaders, the institution’s as yet unsuccessful campaign to expunge sexual harassment/assault from its ranks,—the Army Profession is already struggling to maintain its professional character, at least from the perspective of the American people and their elected representatives.
The most important characteristic in the Army Profession is trust. Trust represents the foundation in which the Army builds its reputation. Others may believe stewardship of the profession, honorable service, esprit de corps, and military expertise are the most important, but without trust, none of these characteristics will thrive. Does this mean without the other characteristics, civil-military relationships want exist, or does it mean in order for the military profession to survive trust has to be present? Actions of the military and its members have consequences that eventually influence society’s trust in the organization. Individuals and groups listen when they trust and welcome their influence. Civil-military relations are the hidden dimension of strategy (Snider and Carlton-Carew, 1995) that enhances the Army’s ability to function as an operational force.
Every uniformed Army professional knows the Soldier’s Creed. The tenth line of the Soldier’s Creed - “I am an expert and I am a professional,” is a powerful statement recited during significant occasions including enlistments, graduations, first formations, promotion boards, change of command ceremonies, and deployment ceremonies. The NCO Creed even includes the bold statement, “No one is more professional than I,” in the opening line. For these words to ring true, the Army must deliver training sufficient to certify professional Soldiers and leaders at all levels. The Army’s ability to recognize this need and adapt its methods speaks volumes for the Profession of Arms. The three components of the Army’s leadership model -
The United States Army is an organization that protects and defends against all enemies foreign and domestic. This protection extends to the American people and the democratic intuitions that we believe in. Enabling this process to work within its design structure is essential for continual trust in the United States
The rules and laws that ethical military leaders are required to follow are clearly defined in the reading. In order to assure a democratic system and to prevent one entity from completely controlling the armed forces, the responsibilities are divided between the President, Congress, Judiciary System, and the Supreme Law of the Land.1 Each of these groups issue orders and treaties that can determine how the military can act in a given situation. A Constitutional Paradigm exists so that a service member can make sound decisions and issue lawful orders with clarity by prioritizing the validity of the Constitution at the top and self at the bottom. In the rare cases of questionable orders from a commander, a step-by-step resolution guide that