A Profession of Arms is a paper designed to begin the discussion about how the Army is a professional organization, and its Soldiers and leaders themselves professionals. Section one begins by discussing professions and professionals, and how the military is a social trustee form of profession. Professionals are actually servants, the military being servant to the Constitution, the American people, and their elected and appointed representatives to provide security. The authority and autonomy the military has is only kept by exercising a high moral ethic, maintaining the trust of the people we serve. The Army is similar to other professions in that its members are motivated by intrinsic, rather than extrinsic factors. We differ from most however in that the core purpose and reason the Army exists is to apply lethal force. This fact demands that all of our Soldiers and leaders be experts in their profession. If Soldiers or leaders are not taught and shown in their units that the Army, and their role in it, is a calling, they will lack the motivation and inspiration to become and expert and a professional. The key attributes of our profession of arms are: expertise, trust, development, values, and service. The key attributes of a professional are: skill, trust, leadership, character, and duty. There are four different types of expertise: military-technical, human development, moral-ethical, and political-cultural. In order for our Army to be effective and maintain trust there must be a balance across the four types of expertise. Section two discusses the Army’s professional culture and its levels. Artifacts are at the unit, the surface level of culture. Beliefs and values is the level above, what policies, regulations, and doctrine say are important, and need to be enforced at the artifact level. Basic underlying assumptions are the common sense values the Army and its Soldiers hold that are so commonly understood they are often not discussed at the artifacts or the beliefs and values level. Section three delves more into culture, describing how the Army ethic is the heart of the Army. The Army’s ethic are the moral values and principles we live by that gain us the trust of the American people we need to operate. Protecting the rights and interests of the American people, and protecting basic human rights for those who cannot themselves, are the reasons the Army operates. Our use of lethal force should only be used to accomplish