The Army Officers' Professional Ethic - Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

Abstract : General George W. Casey, Jr., Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, once observed: If you walked around the Army and asked people what the professional military ethic is, you would get a lot of different answers. That is because Army's professional military ethic is not codified, although its spirit is resident in a number of documents. Other American professions have clearly promulgated statements of ethics. Within the Army, there are several extant statements of ethical responsibility--for Soldiers, noncommissioned officers (NCOs), and civilians--but not for officers. This monograph briefly surveys the history of the Army's professional ethic, focusing primarily on the Army officer corps. It assesses today's strategic, professional, and ethical environment. Then it argues that a clear statement of the Army officers' professional ethic is especially necessary in a time when the Army is stretched and stressed as an institution. The Army officer corps has both a need and an opportunity to better define itself as a profession, forthrightly to articulate its professional ethic, and clearly to codify what it means to be a military professional. Finally, this monograph articulates such an ethic.