Try to visualize the nature of today’s profession of arms and it’s not a stretch to envision a ship tossed around violently in storm waves. Social media. Political turbulence. The Millennial Generation. Fewer combat deployments. Civil-military fissures. These facets of our socio-political life shape and often erode the essence of what it means to be a military professional. The profession of arms needs a little clarity.
That’s why I am excited to share a timely new book by two of my friends and colleagues, Nate Finney and Ty Mayfield. In Redefining the Modern Military: The Intersection of Profession and Ethics, they do a wonderful job of bringing context to the clouded notion of today’s professional military service. Nate and Ty wrote this post for The Military Leader audience and I invite you to pick up a copy of their book.
Thanks for reading and lead well!
Redefining the Modern Military
Professional reflection in the military typically follows large, difficult conflicts. From changes to the War and Navy Departments after the Spanish-American War, to changes in the structure of units following World War One and the overall way the US national security structure was organized after World War Two, after each war the US has reflected on what was required based on lessons learned, as well as what was projected for the immediate future.
As society changed and political winds blew away from declared, conventional conflicts from the 1950s forward, however, reflections on the military focused on the status of the military as a profession and the implications for civil-military relations. Chief among these assessments were Samuel Huntington’s The Soldier and the State (1957), Morris Janowitz’s The Professional Soldier (1960), and John Winthrop Hackett’s The Profession of Arms (1963) that followed the near-run disaster of the “police action” in Korea. Since their publication, they have become the foundation for understanding and discussion on the military as a profession, as well as for the civil-military relations between military leadership and civilian political appointees.
At the end of the contentious Vietnam War and as the military struggled with the use of conscripts and the possibility of the movement to a volunteer-based force, then-Chief of Staff of the Army, General William Westmoreland charged the US Army War College to conduct a study on military professionalism (1970) to assess the officer corps and its ethics, morality, and professional competence as displayed in approximately a decade and a half of war. The resultant recommendations were focused largely on creating more effective measures to assess soldier performance, as well as developing incentives tied to ethical behavior and more effective use of force.
More recent assessments of military professionalism have also occurred, including Andrew Abbott’s The System of Professions (1988) and Don Snider’s The Future of the Army Profession (2002). However, none have been systematically conducted following engagement in over a decade and a half of war in the Middle East and Central Asia. No study has been conducted to assess the ethics, morality, and professional competence displayed by military leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan, let alone the role of the military profession in today’s evolving and increasingly technologically-focused operational environment. No assessment has been done to assess the efficacy of our all-volunteer force for a 21st Century American society and contemporary warfare.
This lack of a contemporary look at the profession of arms led a new generation of military practitioners, academics, lawyers, and civilian aid workers to attempt to assess the applicability of the above foundational documents on the military profession to today’s force. The fruits of that labor – mirroring current trends in professional development by beginning on social media, transitioning to an online publication, and ultimately being printed in book form – led to the publication of Redefining the Modern Military: The Intersection of Profession and Ethics.
As one of the most vibrant communities discussing the profession of arms today, we invite all of you engaged with The Military Leader to pick up a copy of Redefining the Modern Military, reflect on your own place in the profession of arms, and join the conversation on what it means to be a professional in the 21st Century, think about how we can improve the institutions to which we belong, and where we need to continue to assess our profession.
Nathan K. Finney is an officer in the U.S. Army with a focus on strategy and planning. He is a co-editor and author of Redefining the Modern Military: The Intersection of Profession and Ethics. He has published in a number of online forums, print publications, and peer-reviewed journals.
Tyrell O. Mayfield is an officer in the U.S. Air Force with a focus on advising foreign partners and expeditionary security operations. He is a co-editor and author of Redefining the Modern Military: The Intersection of Profession and Ethics. He has published photography and written work in a number of online forums, print publications, and peer-reviewed journals.