I was sitting in Afghanistan in the fall of 2011 when I received a call from CSM John W. Troxell, the ISAF Joint Command CSM. He had called to congratulate me on my selection to become the next Command Sergeant Major of the Combined Arms Center (CAC) and Ft Leavenworth — you know, that post most people believe exists merely to train Majors and lock people up in jail! During this conversation, CSM Troxell told me I was the right guy to be heading up the “POA” (Profession of Arms) for our Army. I thought to myself, “why is the CAC CSM doing anything with Powers of Attorney?” John laughed and said, you know, the Profession of Arms!?! Truly, I had no idea and I probably thought this was a “gimmick.”
As I transitioned into the Combined Arms Center in November of 2011, I had the opportunity to receive in-briefs from all of the subordinate organizations to CAC. One of those organizations was the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic (CAPE), physically located at West Point, New York. During their brief, SGM Dave Stewart handed me an Army Profession pamphlet which was about 40 pages in length and I thought, “I’ll read this when I get the chance – maybe?” On my flight back to Kansas I got curious so I opened up the pamphlet and read it from front to rear, highlighting the critical points and I finally had that “light bulb” moment and thought – THE ARMY PROFESSION IS THE ANSWER!
Now I know that is a very bold statement but I honestly believe this to be true. I have been in the Army now for 26 years and I have never been exposed to anything more important to our Army then the Army Profession campaign of education and training. The Army Profession is or should be our identity with the Armerican People. We are a Profession, composed of the sons and daughters of the American people. We are competent, people of character, who are committed to one another, the Army team and our Nation! Those three “C’s” define our expectations of all who are part of the Army team – Civilians and Soldiers – that we all must be men and women of Competence, Character and Commitment.
Much discussion has revolved around “who is a Professional?” The answer is plain and simple; all that wear the uniform and the civilian cohort who work in our Army are part of this team. From the moment that each take the oath of service all become “Aspiring Professionals” until they are certified by graduating from their commissioning source, Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training, and/or tailored certifications for the Army Civilian Corps. At that time, all become part of the Army Profession and are expected to conduct themselves as Professionals.
As with any other profession there are certain essential characteristics that set our Army apart from any other organization. America’s Army, our Profession has five essential characteristics: Trust, Military Expertise, Espirit de Corps, Honorable Service and Stewardship of the Profession. These “essential characteristics” are required for not only all of the members of our Profession, but as an institution it is what the American people expect and demand from THEIR Army!
Trust is the foundation in which our Army revolves and it starts with the trust the Armerican people have given to us. They have entrusted us with their sons and daughters – to train, care for, safeguard and develop them into Professionals! They expect and demand that we treat them as we would our own sons and daughters and therefore, issues like hazing, sexual assault/harassment, suicides and other preventable accidents are unacceptable! All of the issues above cannot exist in a Professional Army, not if it is comprised of men and women of CHARACTER, who are COMMITTED to one another, who know their jobs and are COMPETENT; it is impossible! If every member of the team truly espoused to the tenets of our Profession, lived up to our defined expectations and standards as a team and mitigated risk as needed, then many, if not all, of the health of the force issues we currently face should disappear. The American People trust us to get this done and it starts with each of us as Leaders and the example we set for others! Every professional must understand the impact we as “role-models” have on not just our Army, but on the American People as well. We are truly ambassadors who must be committed, role models of character, who are competent and prepared to meet the challenges this country might face in the future.
Internal to our Army the importance of “trust” is paramount and its significance to daily operations is reinforced in several Army Doctrinal Publications such as ADP 6-22, “Army Leadership” and ADP 6-0, “Mission Command”. Our leaders trust that we are taking care of and developing our Soldiers. They trust that we are training our Soldiers as charged in Army Doctrinal Publication 7-0, “Training and Developing Leaders”, where it states, “Non-commissioned Officers train individuals, crews, and small teams.” Our leaders expect and trust us to train them to standard and to proficiency on their critical individual tasks and drills so that as Professionals, they are competent! Trust must be earned and then sustained by not only your actions, but also the actions of your subordinates for whom you are charged to care. If they are developed to be men and women of character, who are committed to this Army and their team, competent in their tasks that support the team then this trust will be sustained!
I could continue this discussion and could honestly write a book on the importance of the Army Profession, what it means to be a Professional, and how all Cohorts: Commissioned Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, Warrant Officers, Enlisted and Civilians must understand the importance of our Profession in the hope that all professionals might have a similar “light bulb” moment like my own. This is not a “gimmick” but rather a way of life, an identity that all who wear and/or support those wearing the uniform of a Soldier must have. One of the essential characteristics of the Army Profession is “Stewardship of the Profession” – making this Army better for not only ourselves but for generations to come. We must, as Non-commissioned Officers, continue to sustain this Army in a period of transition and make it better tomorrow then it is today. We must identify ourselves as Professionals, understand what it means to be in the Army Profession, and as Stewards of the Profession pass this information along to the youngest of Soldiers in our ranks – it is that important.
We are a Nation and Army with both challenges and opportunities. Our challenges; fiscal limitations, reduction in end strength, restructuring of the force, operations abroad, regional alignment of forces and a change in operational tempo are all opportunities, opportunities to shape this Army under the umbrella of the Army Profession. Regardless of our end strength, I am convinced that we can be stronger and more lethal than we are today if we do this right. Soldiers of character, who are committed and who are competent must be the standard for all – not just for a certain MOS or certain unit – but across our entire Army. An Army which revolves around trust, which is proud and filled with esprit de corps, filled with military expertise, committed to honorable service and finally, whose ranks are filled with those who understand that as stewards of the profession that the past 237 years have been great — but this means nothing if we are not prepared for the future. I said previously and I’ll say it again, THE ARMY PROFESSION IS OUR ANSWER; understand this and I promise we will be prepared for the challenges of the future.
CSM Christopher K. Greca
Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth
3 Comments on "Why the Army Professional?-“From One Leader to Another”"
Gentlemen –
I appreciate your thoughts on adding Senior NCOs as part of the discussion
to give you perspectives from another “lens.” I will certainly pass this
information off to LTG Perkins, MG Davis, CSM Parson and others. The
possibility of leveraging the PCC/CSMDP students becomes difficult as their
calendars are full but I like thinking outside the box. I know this, myself
and other Nominative level CSM/SGMs on the installation – CSM Parson, SGM
Don Rose (CAC-T), and SGM Dennis Eger (McCOE) – can do a better job of
managing our time and come sit in classroom and share some of our experience
with you all. Again, thank you for these posts and your thoughts. I can
tell both you gentlemen are into building teams (Mission Command) and I
promise this will pay huge dividends as our Army moves into the future. My
best.
CSM Chris Greca
CAC
I concur and echo the above mentioned comments from MAJ Adler. I too think that the Command and General Staff College is lacking the Senior Non-Commissioned Officer’s perspective. Unfortunately, many of the case studies and discussion topics presented throughout the course lack the NCO take and could greatly benefit from a sergeant major’s tenure and wisdom. While I do think it might be difficult to provide a senior enlisted mentor for each section. However, I do think there is an untapped resource with Command Teams attending the Pre-Command Course. As the demographics of the CGSC resets, with younger, less experienced, field grade officers attending, I think Command Team session become even more important. Like the old says; the command sergeant major’s counsel is expected to be calm, settled and unequivocally accurate, with an energy and enthusiasm that never wanes, even in the worst of times. In the end this influence, on new majors, only serves to set them, and the Army, up for success in the future.
MAJ Andrew Meyers
SG 10D
CSM Greca,
As I read through your article it made me think about the importance of the NCO in the Army and their critical role in training and mentoring officers in the Profession of Arms. Throughout the course of CGSC, I have thought that it would be worthwhile to include SGMs into the courses, lectures, case studies, and exercises. The inclusion of the senior NCO perspective would lend depth and breadth to the discussions in the classroom not only during leadership case studies but also during operational planning.
I propose that each staff group be allocated with one SGM (branch immaterial) as part of the cadre of instructors; perhaps this Soldier can serve as the senior advisor to the staff group leader. Qualifications for these NCOs are that they have completed the SGM Academy and have served at the corps or division level. This level of operational experience would ensure that the NCOs have the knowledge and experience to be well-integrated into the staff group and provide mentorship to aid the development of the students in the staff group.
MAJ Jason N. Adler
SG 10D