When Cadet Martin E. Dempsey reported
to the Army’s U.S. Military Academy to begin his plebe year in June 1970, it
was arguably the nadir of America’s trust in its military.
In April 1970 U.S. forces pushed into
Cambodia from South Vietnam, sparking protests and riots throughout the United
States. That May, Ohio National Guardsmen fired on protesters at Kent State
University, killing four.
The civilian-military relationship
appeared broken and irreparable.
Today, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey is
the highest-ranking member of a military that is among the most respected institutions
in America. A total of 72 percent of Americans say the military is the
most-trusted government organization. The military has topped the charts every
year since 1988.
As the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, Dempsey is responsible for developing and maintaining the profession of
arms.
All-Volunteer
Force is Professional Force
The biggest change is the all-volunteer
force. In 1970, the Army -- the largest service -- was a conscript force. “The
officer corps was considered to be the professional core of the force, but it
wasn’t a professional force,” the chairman said during a recent interview. “And
by the way, professional is more noun than adjective in this regard. We are now
very much a professional force at all ranks because we’re a volunteer force.”
When people agree to join the United
States military, they are not just joining for a job or for an adventure, but to
be part of the profession of arms, Dempsey said.
Why is this important? “Number one, a
professional force will live up to the responsibility to allow civilian control
of the military,” the general said. “Our elected leaders don’t wake up in the
morning worried about whether their military will remain subordinate to them.
It’s who we are. It’s part of our profession. It’s part of our professional
ethos.”
Second, the military is responsible for
managing violence on behalf of the nation. This means not only volunteering to
put oneself into harm’s way, but inflicting violence on others, the chairman
said. This “argues strongly for a professional force of men and women … who
have other values such as humility, honor, duty, courage, all of the values
that we espouse,” he said.
Wielding the incredible capabilities
the U.S. military has is a tremendous responsibility and calls for those with an
ethos rooted in their profession, Dempsey said.
“You’re not a profession just because
you say you are: You have to work at it,” he said. “Over the course of my 41
years, there have been times when we’ve emphasized it. And when we’ve emphasized
it, we’ve lived up to it. And there’s times when we have neglected it. And we
always pay the price when we neglect it.”
Spreading
the Gospel of Professionalism
Dempsey’s time as the chairman has
allowed him to rekindle interest in what it means to be a profession, “and then
to drive that into our force, into our leader development models, into our
education system,” he said.
“In so doing, I … personally believe
it’s one of the reasons we’ve been able to navigate through the very
challenging environments we’ve had, both abroad and at home,” he added.
Embedded in the profession is
allegiance to the Constitution, the chairman noted. Military personnel swear
allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, “not to a party, not to a
place, not to an individual,” Dempsey said. “I think that to the extent we can
continually reinforce that, we not only make ourselves better and more
dedicated, more committed, but we also make America better.”
He added, “That’s not hubris, I just
think that as the United States military can be seen both at home and abroad as
professional, dedicated, honorable, exemplary, I think that we are a genuine
stabilizing influence.”
(Follow Jim Garamone on Twitter: @GaramoneDoDNews)