Army Profession Essay

Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Christians, the people of Gondor from Lord of the Rings and the United States Army; what exactly do all these people in fiction, history or even modern day share? They all share the idea of having written law governing their people’s actions and decisions. The Army is no different. If someone were to read all of Army doctrine it would begin at Army Doctrine Publication 1: The Army. The first reference publication, The Army Profession, which comes with it, describes the Army profession with five essential characteristics as military expertise, honorable service, trust, esprit de corps, and stewardship of the profession. While trust maybe “the bedrock of our profession,” stewardship of the profession is the most important
of the five characteristics because it defines the work Soldiers do as more than just a job, builds and reinforces the civil-military relations, and includes the other four characteristics in its execution. When a Soldier enters the Army whether commissioning as an officer, enlisting or becoming an Army civilian he or she takes an oath. In both the officer and civilian oath it specifically calls for the Soldier or civilian to profess he or she will faithfully discharge their duties should they not fulfil them for any reason at all. Moreover, the oaths speak about the Soldier entering an office instead of just another job because the use of office here stands for a position of responsibility or some degree of executive authority. This is important because it defines the work a Soldier does as more than just a job they need to complete to standard but try to achieve excellence through being stewards of the Army values and ethics. Stewardship as expressed by each and every Soldier begins with Soldiers accepting responsibility for their choices and understands that they represent more than themselves but all citizens of America. Army history, as rich and well documented as it is, has always gone hand and hand with how the citizens of America viewed the Army’s actions in representing them and spreading democracy.
Stewardship of the Army profession influences the civil-military relations by building bonds through Army leaders extending their influence whether being recognized or not for it. As stewards of the Army profession it is the leader’s responsibility to understand civilians feelings on situations have always played into the work that is completed both during war and peace. In addition, this supervision has grown more as social media and news media are at the fingertip of all citizens resulting in them receiving more legitimate information more rapidly. True stewards of the Army profession understand completely that the principle requirement is to support the democracy and assist in policy making in government
processes. Military expertise, trust, esprit de corps, and honorable service are all able to act on their own with a few of each of them working closely as characteristics of a the Army profession. However stewardship of the profession is the only one of the five that includes all the others characteristics when employed correctly. Leaders at all levels ensure that their Soldiers take the opportunity to grow professionally and personally. Through these processes the Soldiers certify their skills and assets while increasing the effectiveness of the Army by becoming military experts in units at all levels. When all leaders lead with stewardship as the main characteristic they foster an environment where customs, courtesies and traditions promote esprit de corps effectively. Furthermore, as Soldiers understand stewardship also encompasses the Army values and ethics then they perform their duties trying to achieve excellence instead of just as the standard resulting in honorable service. But most importantly stewardship covers the sacred trust that the American people put in the Army and Soldiers no matter the circumstances will uphold this trust. Stewardship of the profession is by far the most important of the five characteristics of the Army profession because it gives Soldiers a purpose that is more than just doing a job, it builds and reinforces the civil-military relations, and is the only essential characteristic that incorporates all the other four simultaneously.
Teaching young Soldiers the traditions, values, and ethics giving them something to be stewards of in the future to pass along to the next Soldier. The biggest piece to take forward is every day is an evaluation both on and off duty remembering that the American public is always watching the Soldier seeing how he or she represents their
profession.