what is a professional soldier essay

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Professionalism is the Foundation of the Army and We Will Strengthen It

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In my nearly 37 years of service, I’ve seen the strength of the Army profession in action — in the courage and dedication of our soldiers, leaders, and army civilian professionals on the battlefield and in garrison. I observed that strength watching a company commander display his professional competence and leadership while driving conversation during a National Training Center after action review. I experienced it while shaking the hand of Staff Sgt. Ashley Buhl , the embodiment of the character and soul of our profession and the 2023 drill sergeant of the year. And I felt it, just a few weeks ago, watching Pvt. Jamavius Curry (pictured above) lead his formation in reciting the “ Soldiers Creed ” at his basic training graduation. Our profession allows us to maintain trust; construct cohesive and disciplined teams; train our soldiers, leaders, and civilians; and build climates that don’t tolerate harmful behaviors. In a changing world, our profession undergirds all our strengths; but it must be continuously tended, or it will atrophy.

The Army is a part of American society at large and will always reflect its attributes — we cannot assume that the dynamics operating in America won’t affect our profession. Changes in generational preferences and worldviews impact the way our profession manifests across our ranks, but that diversity in thought can also lead to novel ideas . While social and sensationalized media put a spotlight on every misstep and sometimes overlook efforts to improve, it also presents an opportunity to highlight the value of service. Perhaps most importantly, our adversaries grow stronger every day and seek any seam to erode our advantages, but also provide us with a renewed sense of purpose. As we work to transform our Army, we will rely on our people to keep us ahead of potential adversaries. Our profession will continue to produce unparalleled soldiers and leaders who serve as the foundation of America’s relative strength.

Indeed, it is our people that give us our greatest advantage. No other army can boast the U.S. Army’s disciplined, trained, and fit soldiers capable of operating independently, making difficult decisions, and working as part of cohesive teams. All of that — all our advantages — stem from our unique version of professionalism.

Over the years, generations of Army leaders have stewarded that strength. Our professionals have always taken lessons from ongoing wars and conflicts to improve the way we educate and train, adjusting our culture and systems to reflect a changing society. In the mid-20th century, sociologists like Samuel Huntington and Morris Janowitz considered how a democracy could maintain a large, standing army and established the foundational concepts of the profession that we still use today. In subsequent decades, Army leaders such as Gens. William DePuy and Donn Starry , and the newly formed Training and Doctrine Command and Forces Command, worked to deal with the effects of the Vietnam War and build professionalism and discipline in the nascent all-volunteer force.

Today, it is our duty — our professional obligation — to account for the impacts of a generation of war, the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Israel, and other hotspots around the globe, current recruiting challenges , and various societal factors to determine how our profession may need to adapt to maintain its vitality in a tumultuous world where many advantages we once took for granted seem illusory, the time is ripe to focus on our Army profession. In this article, I intend to stoke such a discussion. As I discussed in a recent episode of the War on the Rocks podcast , it is our obligation as Army leaders to refine and update our understanding of what it is, take stock of what we’re already doing to steward and strengthen it, streamline and rationalize those existing programs, and determine where to go from here. However, senior leaders cannot do it alone. This is our profession, and we need soldiers across the entire Army —active, guard, and reserve— to generate ideas and move it forward.

The Army Profession and the Professional

Before we can determine how to strengthen our profession, we need to agree on what it is. This is well-trod territory, and I can’t claim to have some new, visionary definition that will fundamentally alter our trajectory. However, this topic is a personal one and we all have a viewpoint. A common understanding and some accepted lexicon will go a long way to advancing the conversation.

Army doctrine defines the profession as “a trusted vocation of soldiers and army civilians whose collective expertise is the ethical design, generation, support, and application of landpower; serving under civilian authority; and entrusted to defend the constitution and the rights and interests of the American people.” That’s probably a good enough starting point, but it is especially important that our current understanding of the profession has two primary components : the profession itself and the professional it produces. These two components are heavily interrelated, feeding off one another to sustain and improve themselves. The split may seem unnecessary, but I find that it enables us to zero in on specific aspects of each and tailor potential solutions to where they will make the biggest impact.

Our profession is more than the competence, character, and commitment of individual soldiers, non-commissioned officers, warrant officers, officers, and Army civilian professionals in our ranks. It must also encompass the systems with which we develop expertise, accountability, and responsibility. It is a complex system that builds professional warriors who fight and win our nation’s wars within the legal, moral, and ethical bounds of our profession.

The objective expertise that we provide to our nation, that no one else can, is in warfighting. The Army is obligated to have well-trained soldiers and competent leaders to meet this requirement — and the systems that our profession uses to generate that competence are vital. These systems should start with encouraging and moderating diverse discourse on war and its related fields through writing and publication, research, experimentation, and conferences among our professionals and associated parties (think tanks, academia, industry, etc.) However, this is not simply an intellectual exercise. Our purpose is to produce expert warfighters and competent professionals. As such, our system of knowledge generation ought to go further, to turn that discourse into knowledge (doctrine, programs of instruction, training scenarios, etc.) and then transmit that knowledge to developing professionals through training and leader development.

Our profession also requires a system of self-policing that qualifies who we access, retain, and promote. We are trusted with the survival of our nation and the lives of its youth. We are rightly held accountable for that trust. Grounded in our oaths , the “ Warrior Ethos ,” and the “ Army Values ,” our profession produces soldiers and leaders of character through well-established systems of selection, promotion, retention, training, and leader development. Through these accountability mechanisms, we build individual character to produce better soldiers and citizens.

Trust, combined with quality training and leader development, is vital to ensuring that we are a ready and professional army. That trust is built from the responsibility that our profession shows to its members and the commitment that our professionals show to their profession. By caring for soldiers’ needs, providing them the skills and resources to live full and healthy lives, and setting them on the path to a better future, we demonstrate that responsibility and earn their commitment. Ongoing programs steered by the Army People Strategy — prevention, quality of life, life skills development, etc. — are great displays of this responsibility and must be continuously improved to enable our commanders at echelon.

The Army’s systems of expertise, accountability, and responsibility build competent and committed professionals of character. However, it is not these systems that together build a culture. Rather, our profession is a complete entity that enables the Army’s commanders to build positive cultures, which I define as climates and environments that do not tolerate eroding factors such as sexual harassment and assault, or any form of discrimination, while fostering cohesion, dignity, and respect for all that raised their hand and took an oath.

What Are We Doing About It?

I remain an optimist. The Army profession isn’t broken; it simply needs to be stewarded more thoroughly. While it is important to note shortfalls such as soldier and leader misconduct, lack of fitness, harmful behaviors, and more, we — as a total team — are obligated to embrace the profession to build soldiers and leaders of character, competence, and commitment, and to foster positive organizational cultures. To do so, we will continuously improve and refine our professional systems to ensure focus, prioritization, and accountability.

The Sergeant Major of the Army — supported by U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Forces Command, and the total Army — has undertaken efforts to reestablish the primacy of the sergeant in this area through a revised Blue Book and the revitalization of common task training and testing at echelon. But unless leaders at every echelon prioritize the effort, we will continue to be challenged. We must also combine this effort with leader development — delivered through “brick and mortar” schoolhouses and further honed at the unit level — at all echelons to reinforce the basic competence of our profession.

To build our expertise, we are working to improve our professional discourse , which will encourage our leaders to think and write about what we do. We have simultaneously sought to expand the understanding of our soldiers and leaders through direct means. Finally, we are investing to streamline our systems of doctrine and program of instruction development to ensure rapid incorporation of lessons and new ideas.

Even the character of our individual soldiers and leaders should be considered as outputs of our professional systems. It is true that our problems with misconduct and indiscipline are, in part, inevitable, just as they are in any other organized group of human beings. But we cannot and will not simply blame soldier indiscipline on generational values or junior leader unwillingness to enforce standards, nor can we blame continued senior leader misconduct on a “few bad apples.” As we continuously transform, we have the opportunity to examine how we bring people into the Army, acculturate them at initial entry and pre-commissioning sources, train them in our values and culture (across a career, not just at institutional training), assess and evaluate them for their adherence to our norms and responsible behavior, and select them for promotion and positions of increased responsibility. We have begun these processes through more effective acculturation at basic training and by enhancing professional military education, assessing future battalion and brigade leaders, and reinforcing the importance of our oath .

Lastly, we often look at the commitment of our soldiers and leaders to their profession as a one-way street. Individuals should remain committed to our values and to their mission; however, we also have professional responsibilities to care for our people, provide for their and their families’ needs, offer safe and healthy environments for them to work and live in, and set them up for a future in or out of uniform. Continued efforts to improve foundational soldier and leader skills, the provision of resources to commanders to build healthy command climates and reduce harmful behaviors, and increased investment in quality-of-life initiatives are demonstrations of our commitment to these responsibilities.

What Can You Do? A Call to Action

The first, and most important thing, we can all do is exactly what we’re trying to do here: acknowledge that our profession is not a constant. While it is certain that our profession undergirds all our strengths, I again remind you that it must be continuously tended, or it will atrophy. This simple acknowledgement — and the commensurate requirement for each and every professional to think deeply about his or her profession, discuss it with their peers, come up with solutions, and drive them into existence — is the most important thing we can do. Our professionals are obligated to increase their engagement on relevant topics in daily interactions, as well as by writing for expanding outlets to spread lessons learned and generate dialogue. If that is all this article achieves, that will be enough.

Each of us must also work to rebuild pride in service. Wearing the uniform of the U.S. Army is a big deal. That honor and responsibility ought to be reflected in each and every one of us. After a long term of service, especially following multiple deployments, it’s easy to get jaded and cynical — to forget why we joined in the first place. But I challenge each of you to go to a basic training, Basic Officer Leader Course, or Officer Candidate School graduation (or at least think back to your own) and look at the sense of accomplishment in every new soldier’s eyes and the pride of every family member. Attaining membership in our profession is hard — as it should be — and pride in service must be reinforced in every unit, school, department, and section.

We all know that our profession is huge. It is made up of countless units, teams, offices, and departments that are manned with people from all walks of life. I encourage every solider and Army civilian to take responsibility for their piece of the profession. Each of us — no matter our rank, mission occupational specialty, or assignment — can strengthen the whole by strengthening its parts.

This we’ll defend.

Gen. Gary Brito is the commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. He is responsible for strengthening the Army profession, building the next generation of soldiers and leaders, and delivering holistic solutions to the future force. He previously served as the deputy chief of staff G-1 at Headquarters Department of the Army and in a variety of command and staff assignments, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Army Professionalism, The Military Ethic, and Officership in the 21st Century

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Home — Essay Samples — Government & Politics — Soldiers — What It Means to Be a Soldier

What It Means to Be a Soldier

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Published: Sep 5, 2023

Words: 583 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Table of contents

Service and sacrifice, courage and resilience, integrity and honor, service beyond the battlefield.

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What It Means To Be A Professional Soldier (Essay Sample)

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What it means to be a professional soldier

Professionalism is defined in many ways depending on the career.  Professionalism within the military context can be defined by one word that is being disciplined.  Even though we are taught to be, respectful at all times to all every citizen, the same way we would want others to treat us, for soldiers this is a golden rule. Respect means treating people with dignity, respect implies offering selfless service by putting the country’s welfare first over his own needs.

Soldiers need to be professional by maintaining the highest possible discipline when discharging their duty.  Being disciplined means, soldiers have no right to take away someone’s life. As a soldier, one is entrusted with the lives of others. Therefore being professional requires a soldier to uphold the laws. A soldier has the duty to protect citizens from any harm by defending them at all cost. Soldiers go out of their way in their duty, risking their lives to save others that are what defines professionalism within the military context.

A professional soldier subscribes to the universal military ethics; the military ethics includes following strict orders that are meant to protect citizens and uphold their professionalism these includes working as a team. A professional soldier is required to uphold the laws by not violating individual rights.  Instead, a professional soldier should protect their country and its people at all times. A professional soldier should prevent violence and promote peace.

A professional soldier has the responsibility towards the society; a soldier needs to be dedicated towards serving people, but should not be motivated by monetary rewards and ranks. When a soldier goes contrary to society’s expectations, he ceases to be a professional. Professionalism is seen when soldiers are awarded for their exemplary deeds that includes saving lives. A soldier will accomplish his professional goal by making a difference in people’s lives. Soldiers are often involved in risky and dangerous missions; they are required to subscribe to the philosophy of teamwork. , this means no one should be left behind. A professional soldier needs to be courageous and have the ability to defend anyone, including his teammates when faced with danger.

As a soldier, being professional means completing the tasks assigned in a consistent manner by following the laid down procedure. For instance, if a soldier is assigned to conduct an operation, he needs to adhere to the standard practices outlined by the commanding officer.  Professional soldiers are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that citizens feel safe. Soldiers to not engage in war willingly, professional soldiers need to engage in preventive war, by safeguarding the national security.

Soldiers need to be respectful to their enemies and the true nature of war. Even though soldiers are always ready for war, war is usually the last resort after trying all other avenues to restore peace. Professional soldier is neutral; he does not engage in any political orders. A soldier is aware of his duty that is to serve the state not individuals. Any soldier who is not loyal to his country, and does not obey the military code ceases to be a professional.

A good soldier is judged by not the policies they adhere to but the efficiency and promptness of how he carries out his duty. Loyalty is about having faith in and allegiance to the Constitution and other soldiers.  Professionalism means fulfilling his responsibilities as a team following the right procedures. A soldier’s professionalism is determined by his expertise and responsibility, that is why they need to undergo a great deal of training to understand their responsibilities.

• Essay On Soldiers

Soldiers Essay

500 words essay on the life of soldiers.

Soldiers are the pride of our nation and our country’s greatest asset. They defend our motherland and protect citizens at all costs. Soldiers put their countries above their self-interest. The profession of a soldier brings the best qualities of a human being, like discipline, chivalry, loyalty, team spirit, and steadfastness. In this world, the job of a soldier is the most challenging. Soldiers serve their country to the best abilities. They always follow their duties despite hardships. A person should possess exceptional qualities to become a brave soldier. Before being sent to the war zone, soldiers are trained for years. This training period is challenging, bringing out the best in them and preparing them for the battlefield.

We get to hear stories of our brave soldiers who fought in the Kargil War. The life of a soldier is an excellent source of inspiration for our youth. For example, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose is still remembered for his brave deeds, who gave his life for the country’s independence.

Duties of Soldiers

As a soldier, the first and foremost duty is to serve their country. The country’s citizens sleep peacefully when their soldiers perform their duties genuinely. Usually, a person joins the army to show their love towards the country. The life of a soldier is tough, and they have to undergo numerous problems, but still, people want to join the army.

As a soldier, they have to safeguard the honour of their country. Soldiers never give up and fight till their last breath in any critical circumstances. Besides, they should be constantly alert. It is said that a soldier is never off duty.

Another duty of a soldier is to maintain peace and harmony within the country. It’s his responsibility to ensure a safe environment for all. Besides, soldiers also have to be alert at all times. Apart from guarding the state and national boundaries, they are always there for emergencies. A soldier knows how to handle a natural calamity or a terrorist attack.

Challenges Faced by Soldiers

Away from family.

Most of their time is spent serving the nation. Unfortunately, they hardly get any leaves, even during festivals or family functions. They stay away from their loved ones, which is the most challenging and emotional part of being soldiers. If somehow their leaves are approved, they must report back to their base in an emergency.

Physical training

To become a soldier, they need to undergo rigorous physical training. They continuously exercise for hours and go through various physical exercises. This can be exceptionally tedious and challenging for recruits.

Lack of supply

Soldiers need to go for extended missions in remote areas in challenging situations. The lack of basic amenities like proper food makes the soldiers’ lives even more difficult in remote areas. However, they carry on their duties in such challenging conditions.

Extreme weather conditions

Soldiers are posted in extreme weather conditions like freezing cold, scorching heat and heavy rains. They fight between dense forests and snow-covered mountains. Furthermore, they are always on the field protecting their country.

Lack of bulletproof equipment

During the time of war, soldiers are constantly exposed to bullets. They should be equipped with bulletproof clothes and shields in such a situation. Unfortunately, in many countries, including India, we see a shortage of bulletproof equipment.

For every soldier, the protection of the motherland is a priority. Soldiers perform their duties selflessly, and they have qualities like respect, discipline, teamwork, loyalty and bravery. They sacrifice their lives for the nation and the people.

Soldiers are the defence system of the nations in the world. They are the ones who courageously safeguard the people and the nation from different dangers and enemies. They are the most incredible pride of the countries in the world.

An ideal soldier must be for the country. They are expected to serve their country with selfless self and sacrifice their lives for their respect. We salute such great souls and look towards them for inspiration.

From our BYJU’S website, students can also access CBSE Essays related to different topics, such as Republic Day Essay . It will help students to get good marks in their exams.

Frequently Asked Questions on Soldiers Essay

What are the duties of a soldier.

The main motto of a soldier is to ensure national security and defend their nation from external/internal attacks or aggressions.

What are the disadvantages of serving in the army?

Disadvantages of serving in the army include being injured or permanently maimed, uncertainty about the future, and a life away from family

What is the highest military rank in India?

The highest military rank in India is Field marshal or ‘five-star general’.

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