Introduction
The military as a profession has been a major subject of discussion in many states due to its complexity and its mandate to the people. The world has evolved from simple forms of military technologies to complex forms of military technologies. There are various forms of lethal and dangerous military technologies in the world today.
The military as a profession of arms
Every state has its own meaning of the profession of arms in relation to its past military cultures and traditions. The United States for instance describes it as, ‘A preeminent military task that embeds soldiers’ preparation to combat including preparing to kill or preparing to die as the most basic principles of the force.’ A profession usually requires a lot of skills and knowledge. America embraces professionalism in its approach to military science since it has set out the basic principles of the army in relation to its work and expertise. The main clients of the American military are the citizens of America. The military profession is perceived to be a calling rather than an occupation. The profession involves the use of lethal weapons and an undefined force for the maintenance and defense of the laws and the rights of the American people. The soldiers are supposed to shoulder the heavy burden of their sole clients.
The criteria used to determine the profession of arms
One of the criteria considered is expertise. This entails vast expert knowledge and the manifestation of unique skills in the various army units and command posts. Secondly, trust is important for peaceful civil relations between the military and civilians. This is also one of the basic reasons for proper and successful operations of the military since it is given the task of protecting its citizens at all costs.
In order for the profession to manifest itself in concrete terms, it must have continuous development that will greatly influence its meaning and purpose through good leadership. It must embrace the various codes of ethics that are stipulated in its creed such as adaptability and resilience to service. Another criterion is the values which it must embrace for the service of its country. The past cultures and beliefs of the military form an important aspect in the modern legitimacy of the military. This helps to shape the character of the soldiers both in combat and in civilian aspects. Lastly, service is a core motto of the profession of arms since it forms the basis of the military or army in general.
The army’s duty is to protect and serve the citizens of its state, maintain peace, security, protect the mandated territories, commonwealths, and possessions. The army has four modern perspectives that guide its operations which are the human development expertise of high quality service and knowledge through education and development systems, the political cultural expertise which entails the civil-military relations and media-military relations, military technical expertise which entails the employment of combat personnel, weaponry and equipments or systems, and the moral or ethical expertise(Bender,2007).The army needs to be given checks and balances through the army ethics and external relations.
Conclusion
The professional skills such as trust, leadership, character, and duty are the main cornerstones of the military institution. This institution should be respected by all the civilians and given provisions in the constitution in order to work effectively.
Reference
Bender, Bryan. Gates Calls for Buildup in Troops. Boston, USA: The Boston Globe Publishers, 2007.