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Profession Of Arms Essay

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An Army White Paper: The Profession of Arms details an in-depth analysis into what it means for the Army to be a ‘Profession of Arms’ and what it means to be a ‘Professional Soldier’. It is not an authorative article nor is it directive, but more of an actual point of discussion. It all allows the reader to apply some critical thinking to the subject matter and to form their own assessment, as well as applying the role of a Human Resources Sergeant to the subject matter. What does it mean to be a profession? A profession is an occupation that produces expert level work, whose professionals uphold that expert level work and continually strive to add efficiency and legitimacy to what they are practicing. You can’t have a profession without …show more content…

Conflict brings out the best in us as an organization and no force on earth is as well-oiled and tactically proficient when there is a war to win. But, what about when the conflicts are over and our nation enters a time of peace? Historically, this has been a real challenge. Peace time typically brings a drastic reduction in force, both by intentional reduction in force by our leaders and in voluntary mass-exodus of many of our seasoned war-fighters. The mass reduction in force naturally breeds complacency in the performance of duties and a lack of effectiveness in war-fighting training because there isn’t the element of life and death that is needed to keep us sharp. When this happens, it becomes tough to call ourselves a ‘Profession of Arms’ with a straight face because many of the professionals that have left the service are no longer there to properly develop the next generation of professionals. While there historically hasn’t been a good solution to this problem, the best we can do as professionals is to continually work towards developing ourselves and the United States Armed Forces and attempt to build the best “base” possible for the next generation of Soldiers in the event of another massive reduction in

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