To reinforce the Army Profession and its Ethic, the Army Chief of Staff established the Army Center of Excellence for the Professional Military Ethic (ACPME) in May 2008. Located at West Point, New York, the wellspring of professional Soldier values for more than 200 years, the ACPME was re-designated as the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic (CAPE) and realigned to fall under the command and control of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) and its Combined Arms Center (CAC) in August 2010.
This change has assisted CAPE with the expansion of its proponent mission from the Army Ethic and character development to a broader proponency responsible for the full scope of the Army Profession. CAPE's objectives are to assess, study, and refine the Profession of Arms, the Army Ethic and culture; increase Army members understanding and internalization of what it means for the Army to be a Profession and to be a Professional; accelerate professional and character development in individuals, units, and Army culture through training, education, and leader development; and lead Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership and Education, Personnel and Facilities (DOTMLPF) initiatives to reinforce the Army Profession, Army Ethic, and culture. In order to leverage the vast intellectual capital at the United States Military Academy, the CAPE offices remain at West Point.
Timeline
- 2 January 2013 -America's Army - Our Profession Education and Training Program begins.
- 2 April 2012 -The Army Profession Campaign CY11 Annual Report is released.
- September 2011 -Army-Wide campaign renamed the Army Profession Campaign.
- 1 January 2011 -Army-Wide Profession of Arms Campaign launched.
- 27 October 2010 -Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Army signed a Terms of Reference for the Review of the Army Profession in an Era of Persistent Conflict.
- July 2010 -Commanding General (CG) TRADOC and CG Combined Arms Center rename the ACPME to "Center for the Army Profession and Ethic (CAPE)" to reflect its expanded Army-wide proponency requirements, and further task organizes CAPE under CAC Leader Development and Education (LD&E).
- May 2010 -The CSA decides to reassign the ACPME from USMA to CAC, and CG TRADOC expands the ACPME proponency mission from the "professional military ethic" to encompass the entire "Army Profession and Ethic."
- March 2010 -CG TRADOC and CSA approve the Army leader development integrated priority list for Program Objective Memorandum (POM) 12-17; ACPME is #7 of 48 Army leader development initiatives with $4.5M approved per year for POM12-17 (increase from $2.5M to $4.5M was based on the expanded responsibilities assigned to the ACPME In accordance with Department of the Army(IAW DA)-wide proponency.)
- January 2010 -DA G3/5/7 (Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans and Training) approved an ACPME concept plan for 2 military and 19 civilian personnel requirements.
- May 2009 -CG TRADOC and CSA approved the Army leader development integrated priority list for POM 10-15; ACPME is #4 of 52 Army leader development initiatives with $2.5M approved per year for POM10-15.
- March 2009 -The Army formally assigns Superintendent, USMA and the ACPME as the Army force modernization proponent for the professional military ethic and character development as reflected in Army Regulation(AR) 5-22 (Aug 09).
- May 2008 -The CSA decides to stand up a separate Army Center at USMA. USMA provides Borrowed Military Manning(BMM), and the Army resources limited civilian billets.
- April 2007 -CSA assigned USMA as "Army Center of Excellence for the Professional Military Ethic." USMA delegated the mission to the existing Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic (SCPME) under the USMA Commandant of Cadets; SCPME took on additional duties with no additional resources.
