The Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA) directed a review in January 2011 of the Profession of Arms after a decade of persistent conflict. Beginning with a Unified Quest 2011 seminar on The Profession of Arms, the year-long Army-wide assessment has begun to review Soldiers’ and leaders’ understanding of what it means to be professionals – expert members of the Profession of Arms — and encourage a re-commitment to a culture of service, and the responsibilities and behaviors as articulated in the Army ethic.
Over the past six months, the Army has assessed its strengths and weaknesses as well as key attributes of the profession and the professional. Each of the attributes was assessed at the individual (commissioned officer, warrant officer, noncommissioned officer, Soldier and civilian), unit, and institutional levels. The review included two centrally developed and managed Army surveys (distributed by the Army Research Institute), Profession of Arms focus groups (i.e., sensing sessions organized by cohort), PoA forums (i.e., professional seminars, conferences, and symposia), dialog captured from discussions on major Army professional blogs and forums, historical reviews, and a “red team” assessment conducted by Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) to assess what could create damage to the profession.
Check out today’s edition of the Army’s STAND-To! publication to learn more about the Profession of Arms Campaign and the Interim Report.
Share with us what it means to you to be a professional in the U.S. Army.
