The Army Profession: Ostrich or Phoenix?

THE NOTION of the Army as a profession is as old as the Army itself, but the belief that soldiering is a profession is no longer commonplace for those in uniform. Much discussion in the Army today concerns what it means to be a professional soldier, but the profession itself is losing its status, and no one in the Army is talking about that. In this respect, the Army is like an ostrich with its head in the sand, while it should be like the phoenix continually renewing itself. Army doctrine explains leadership in terms of a "be-know-do" philosophy, but it does not tell officers and soldiers how to be military professionals. In fact, Field Manual 22-100, Army Leadership, Be, Know, Do, the capstone leadership manual, does not mention the word profession. (1) The Army describes itself as "an institution, not an occupation." (2) The only mention of professionalism in Army regulations (ARs) is in AR 623-105, The Officer Evaluation Reporting System, which says, "Part IV [of the Officer Evaluation Report Form] contains a listing of the Army Values and the dimensions of the Army's leadership doctrine that define professionalism for the Army officer." (3) But the list of attributes is not a specific checklist that would help individuals within the profession understand what it means to be professionals. The omission of a useful description of what the Army considers professionalism might be a root cause of the current confusion about professional obligations and responsibilities. In The Future of the Army Profession, Don M. Snider examines results from the Army's Training and Leadership Development Panel, compares the Army with other professions, discusses the need for the military to advise civilian leaders, and postulates that the Army is in a period of growing uncertainty about the nature of military professionalism. (4) That uncertainty threatens to relegate the Army to the level of just another government agency or bureaucracy with no bona fide professional status. Snider's study is remarkable because, essentially, it is the only contemporary discussion on the subject. Any search for opinions or contrasting viewpoints yields little fruit. Before 1990, no ongoing Army studies of professionalism had occurred at the institutional level since the 1970s. (5) In the last 10 years, Snider's work has stood alone in addressing Army professionalism. He has written nearly all the published essays and articles on the subject, and others writing on the subject base their work on his. Still, no new discussion on the subject of professionalism addresses the profession's future. This is a troubling and potentially dangerous state of affairs. Theory of Professionalism Snider agrees with sociologist Andrew Abbot that a profession possesses three attributes: expertise, jurisdiction, and legitimacy. (6) Samuel Huntington also identifies expertise, corporateness, and responsibility as characteristics of professionalism. Former Army Lieutenant Colonel Sam Sakesian identifies special knowledge and education; organizational structure; self-regulation; and "commitment and calling"--the latter implying a degree of service to society at large. (7) I refer to Snider's tenets---expertise, jurisdiction, and legitimacy--to discuss two types of professionalism: theoretical and practical. I see these tenets as being the theoretical components of professionalism because they describe the ideal but do not prescribe the means to attain it. I define the practical components of professionalism as organization and return on investment (or giving back to the institution). These are the practical ways for the profession to ensure its survival and future growth. Expertise. Professional expertise refers to the body of knowledge that the profession's members have mastered--a body of knowledge that is not common in society at large because those outside of the profession typically do not acquire it. Just as a doctor's expertise is the study and practice of medicine, the Army professional's expertise is the study and application of military science. …