The United States is considered to be a country with the strongest army in the entire world. Therefore, the most critical question that ought to be answered here is about the secret behind the establishment of a strong army in the world. Besides the expansive role of protecting the country’s territory, the United States Army has a code of conduct that makes it intensely involved in community service across the United States.
As such, this paper explores the profession of the United States Army. The paper argues that the United States government invests heavily in the army, which is a factor that makes the army a key contributing force in securing the United States territory and citizens.
According to Kohn (2009), there are three key definitive factors for positioning the army in terms of professionalism. Intellectualism is the first factor, the second factor is the interplay of politics, and the third factor is the moral or ethical stance of the army. The development of professionalism in the United States army is something that is often weighed against these three elements.
These three elements depict the challenges that often face the development of the armed forces. The question here is whether the United States army has managed to overcome these challenges. The army in the United States is a trusted body. The implication here is that there are a lot of expectations on the side of the United States public on the professional conduct of the United States Army.
At this point, it is imperative to bring into the picture the assertion that, “Current Army doctrine calls for “mission command,” “task and purpose” and “intent-based” orders to guide the execution of military operations” (Reed, 2012, p. 1). This assertion comes from the observation that the United States army has been intensely deployed in conflict zones across the world to help restore security in the zones.
What comes out of the army operations is, in most cases, contrary to the expectations of the global publics about the United States Army. The conduct of the United States army often goes far below the expectations of the public, with a high number of cases of torture and other incidences of human rights violations often reported in the areas where the army is deployed (Reed, 2012).
A look at the history of the United States Army, especially from the beginning of the 20th century to date, denotes the intensive deployment of the army in different regions of the world to help protect the interests of the civilians in these regions. However, it is imperative to note that the civilians have often been subjected to the negative attributes of the military operation in almost all the major operations that have been conducted by the United States Army.
This is what raises a lot of questions on the ability of the United States army to employ professionalism and ethics when it is deployed in different regions to help in securing the interests of the civilians (Reed, 2012). According to the Department of the Army (2013), serving in the United States Army is not only considered to be a calling, but also a chance for an individual to embrace professionalism when discharging services to the citizens of the United States.
One of the most outstanding definitions of an army profession in the United States is a person who embraces ethics in the discharge of military duties, as embedded in the assertion that, “An Army professional is one who acts as a steward of the Army Profession while adhering to the highest standards of the Army’s Ethic” (Department of the Army, 2013, p. 1).
While the army sets standards of operation embedded in the ethical standards, leadership in the army is an essential tool that works towards ensuring that the set standards are adhered to by everybody serving under the United States Army.
Expanding on the issue of leadership as an essential tool that ensures that the competence and professionalism of the United States army is maintained, it makes sense to assert that, “A profession is a trusted self-policing and relatively autonomous vocation whose members develop and apply expert knowledge as human expertise to render an essential service to society in a particular field” (Department of the Army, 2013, p. 1).
This is in line with the embrace of professionalism in the army as embedded in the rules that guide the operation of the United States Army. The reason why the United States government invests billions of dollars in the army is to enhance the capacity of the army to discharge its operations, more so securing of the citizens of the United States from any dangers that come from within and outside the country.
The question here is whether professionalism that is on the paper is applied by the United States military in its operations, especially the operations that are carried outside the country’s territory (Reed, 2012).
Reed (2012) observes that the current structure of operation in the army is something that comes to the attention of a substantial number of commentators, especially in regards to the embrace of professionalism in the military operations that are mounted in different regions across the globe.
Most importantly is the embrace of leadership and professionalism in the army is the moderation of the structure of command in the military so that the military men on the ground are given a chance to make rational and ethical decisions concerning the security situation on the ground.
At this point, it makes sense to revisit the observation by Kohn (2009), who brought up the issue of politics and a challenge in the enhancement of professionalism in the operation of the military.
The United States army, as much as it is applauded for having the required technological and communication competencies to make operations more efficient, is sometimes blamed for sidelining the ethical code because of the rules and instructions that they receive from the United States when they are on the ground.
While the investment in the United States army makes them highly equipped in terms of skills, the competencies are often watered down by way of the failure to pay attention to the critical question of ethics in the discharge of work by the armed forces.
Professionalism is necessary for the operation of the armed forcers. The United States Army has a strict code of conduct that denotes the embrace of professionalism in the operation of the members of the army.
The points presented in the paper denote the difficulty in balancing between professionalism and other interests, especially from the political spheres. Politics and the issue of structured command often derail the army from the total embrace of professionalism in the operation of the U.S. Army.
References
Department of the Army. (2013). The army profession. Washington, DC.
Kohn, R. H. (2009). Tarnished brass: Is the U.S. military profession in decline?. World Affairs. Web.
Reed, B. J. (2012). Leader development, learning agility and the army profession. Land Warfare Paper No. 92, 2012.