CAPE director discusses responsibility, Army Profession at Fort Leonard Wood

By Melissa Buckley, Leonard WoodSeptember 2, 2014

CAPE director discusses responsibility, Army Profession at Fort Leonard Wood
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Aug. 28, 2014) -- To put an emphasis on leadership development, the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence hosted five Army Profession and Ethic sessions presented by the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic, Aug. 19-21, 2014, on Fort Leonard Wood.

Army ethic is expressed in law, Army Values, creeds, oaths, ethos and shared beliefs embedded within Army culture.

"Your profession is at stake. Each one of you is responsible for not only what is in your battle space, but for what is in your adjacent battle space. You have much more influence than you think," said Maj. Gen. Leslie Smith, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood commanding general. "We are all responsible for the Army Profession."

"If somebody is not doing something right, then you have to be the voice of freedom and rightness in your organization. You are responsible for setting the climate that exists," he added.

The Center for the Army Profession and Ethic, known as CAPE, falls under the Mission Command Center of Excellence, Combined Arms Center, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.

Col. Denton Knapp, CAPE director, is touring Army installations to provide in-depth training to integrate the Army profession, ethic and character-development doctrine and concepts into leadership-development sessions.

Knapp led the interactive seminars, designed to stimulate discussion about developing Soldiers as professionals. Some of the topics he covered were building military expertise, honorable service, esprit de corps and stewardship.

Knapp said it is important for Soldiers to discuss professional development because they need to understand why and how to serve as Army professionals -- living the Army ethic at all times.

According to Knapp, there are documents dating back to the 1800s with Army publications talking about the profession, but the first time it was put into doctrine was June of 2013.

"Our doctrine now is really forward thinking. If you haven't read the doctrine lately, you need to," Knapp said.

Capt. Anthony Addison, commander of Company C, 58th Transportation Battalion, 3rd Chemical Brigade, was in the afternoon session, Aug. 20.

Addison said he thought the most important thing discussed was the idea that the Army is a profession -- rather than an occupation.

"When every individual Soldier starts to view this profession as something more than just a job, this organization will become what it was and intended to be," Addison said. "Gaining entrance into the Army profession is indoctrination into the brotherhood of warriors. When a Soldier signs the contract to protect the nation it signifies the possibility that life might be taken, theirs or otherwise.

"Soldiers are trained to excel at a designated skill that takes years to master in support of land warfare, he continued. "The Army, unlike other professions, is subservient to the United States. Soldiers must expect to be on call and act in a certain manner incessantly."

Addison said it is important to discuss building military expertise, honorable service, espirit de corps, and stewardship, because each of these pillars are part of being a Soldier and a servant to the nation.

"These pillars of the profession are created in a manner that requires the individual civilian to become a Soldier. Each Soldier is part of a team, and therefore must have the same processes in order for the mission to be accomplished to the highest standards. In general, these are the guidelines that we as Soldiers must live and believe every day, no matter the situation," he said.

For more information on CAPE and the Army profession, visit www.cape.army.mil.

Related Links:

Center for the Army Profession and Ethic

More Army News

Army.mil: Professional Development Toolkit

STAND-TO!: The Army Profession

STAND-TO!: Army Values

STAND-TO!: America's Army - Our Profession "Stand Strong"

Learn what L.D.R.S.H.I.P. stands for

Fort Leonard Wood GUIDON Newspaper online

Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood