Just short of a decade ago, the US Army began a journey to rediscover its professional roots during war. After years involved in the daily grind of two wars, there was a recognition that, like in past wars, our institutions and our people became singularly focused on the daily operations that combat demands. But this external focus came at a cost: the sustainment and maintenance of what makes modern militaries truly unique—their profession.
The Army’s introspection was not the first time it had conducted such an assessment. Following the Korean and Vietnam Wars, in particular, our military took a long, hard look at itself, measuring against both unspoken and explicit standards of professionalism. Such studies, including works ultimately published by Samuel Huntington and Morris Janowitz, as well as reports commissioned by Gen. William Westmoreland and others, established the foundation for the modern military as a profession.
Building on that foundation, this book, compiled by two serving military officers, ably uses these seminal texts on the profession to assess the applicability of the ideas on leadership, ethics, and the military profession put forth a half century ago. How these ideas relate to today’s armed forces, how the character of war has changed, what we expect of our combat leaders, and how we prepare them for the hazy ethical situations into which they will be thrust is worth considering.
One of the key elements defining a profession is the way it educates its members, both through structured education and through self-development. This book provides significant material to think through the profession of arms in the twenty-first century, and therefore would be significantly useful for faculty in both professional military education institutions and in civilian institutions focused on educating our nation’s future leaders. The concepts of professionalism and the ethical foundation on which today’s military leaders must stand are articulated here in a voice of contemporary experience, which resonates in new ways.
As we continue into this century, our international environment will be one typified by transitions between war and peace. Our men and women—our military professionals—will need to be even more knowledgeable about their role in society, their function in conflict, and their responsibility to the state and the citizenry they serve. Continuing to assess how we conduct ourselves as servants of our nation, and where individual leaders fit into its ranks, is a critical task in the maintenance of our profession of arms. The more members of our military professions engage, understand, and question the foundations of their own profession, as the authors in this book have done, the better prepared our men and women will be for the future. We owe it to ourselves, in the profession of arms, and to our nation, to ensure we are educating and developing leaders of consequence that use their time on this earth to make it matter. Make every day matter.
Martin E. Dempsey
General, U.S. Army, Retired
18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff