The American Defense Forces As A Profession Of Arms

An Argumentative Essay Based An Army White Paper: The Profession of Arms.

The Army White Paper ‘The Profession Of Arms’ of 2010 explores the nature of the American Defense forces in operations and the professional ideals encapsulated in the ninth stanza of the Soldier’s Creed. Professionals are obliged to produce expert work, which is not necessarily a routine or repetitive work but rather whose core is subject to effectiveness. It is mandatory that any professional should undergo rigorous training, study and practice prior to their capability to administer expert work. In addition, the society expects service from professionals to guarantee their health, justice as well as security. More particularly, the military profession has a moral obligation to provide security to society and hence expertise is fundamental in their practices. Every profession requires that trust should be earned by the profession to their subjects through ethics. Professions call for the motivation of their workers by means of extrinsic factors such as promotions, benefits and salaries.

Belonging to the profession of arms calls for expertise regardless of what task one undertakes and constantly seeks to enhance the knowledge base and sharing the expertise in the furtherance of the profession. The profession of arms coupled with the nature of military service dictates that the American Defense Forces are liable for duty at all time and should demonstrate the willingness to accept physical risk, when situations demand so, in the execution of their duties. The ADF pay and allowances are tailored to reflect these professional demands. In illustration, a Service Allowance is provided as a premium to ranks of Major Equivalent and below while it makes up the basic pay for the higher ranks (Coleman, 2012). Moreover, the obligations and ethos expected from every member of the military professional organization accentuates the demands of a profession.

All members of the American Defense Forces are held accountable for their individual and collective conduct and actions irrespective of their location and status of duty. Although such accountability may not be captured in the legal interpretation of compensable liability, the general expectation of society demands that soldiers and all members of the Defense Forces are accountable for their personal behavior and conduct at all times and should exhibit a high standards of professionalism. As a key aspect of any profession, American Defense Forces members have a right and obligation to exercise self-regulation (Coleman, 2012). The defense forces are allowed to govern themselves, regulating the conduct and those of its members, while imposing rewards and sanctions subject to professional behavior.  Furthermore, the issue of trust is a core component innate in every professional practice. The ADF has formulated an approach that encourages trust among the members of the profession as well as towards the American society, to whom they are responsible (Martin, 2012). This is equivalent to what is expected of every other profession such as the Medicine, teaching, nursing and law.

Leadership forms another key element of the profession of arms underpinnings. The American Defense Forces as a professionals rely on their ability to nurture and develop future leaders. The leaders are expected to uphold trust and professional ethics while inspiring, teaching and motivating others in a bid to enhance ethical and moral standards of professionalism. The leaders are tasked with the mandate to oversee smooth and notable transitions. Important to note is that the American Defense Forces employs its leadership in enhancing its members to uphold the highest level of dutiful professionalism subject to the ethical code of practice (Martin, 2010). The doctrine of leadership in the ADF highlights the cost of putting the military mission and the welfare of colleagues and society above one’s self. In this regard a soldier in the battlefield is expected not to leave a fallen comrade behind or betray the public trust whatsoever.

It is authoritative to acknowledge that the army, as profession of arms, adheres to the ideal and elements fundamental in maintaining professionalism in its practices. The fact that the pay and allowances given to the ADF is a form of motivation, and owing to the knowledge that the military men and women undergo extended and intense training as well as formal qualification, licenses the army as a profession of arms. The American Defense Forces members have over the years exhibited the exceptional attributes of professionalism such as trust, knowledge acquisition and training, motivation and leadership.

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