WEST POINT, N.Y. (June 27, 2012) -- Since its inception in July 2010, the Master Army Profession and Ethic Trainer, or MAPET, course has provided more than 200 Army professionals with the latest methods, tools and techniques for managing professional character development.
The course was developed at the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic, located at West Point, for leaders and trainers to become the subject matter experts for their schools, centers or units. After completion of the MAPET course, graduates are awarded the Personnel Development Skill Identifier, A1I, which allows them to conduct the APET, or Army Profession and Ethic Trainer to their own Soldiers and staff.
The fifth MAPET course was conducted June 11-15 at West Point, adding another 26 graduates to the program which has trained a total of 266 drill sergeants, OES and NCOES senior instructors, civilian training developers and other Army senior leaders, from the active-duty, Reserve and National Guard components.
The lead facilitator for the five-day course is Joe LeBoeuf, Ph.D., a professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. As a former West Point professor and retired Army colonel, LeBoeuf was involved in building the leadership and leader development programs at the academy and throughout the Army.
James Gadoury, Chris Miller and Nate Self, former West Point graduates and contractors with Praevius Group, also instruct the course with Gus Lee and Lt. Col. Pete Kilner. Don M. Snider, Ph.D., CAPE's senior fellow, a former political science director and a leading expert on civil-military relations has provided instruction at four MAPET courses.
Col. Jeffrey Peterson was appointed as CAPE director May 22, succeeding its first leader, Col. Sean Hannah, who oversaw the center's expansion in 2010 from Army ethic and character development to a broader proponency responsible for the full scope of the Army Profession.
Peterson, a Class of 1987 graduate, previously served as an economics professor and program director at the academy--an assignment (or appointment) that was first postponed when he was called to serve as a cavalry squadron commander and deployed to Iraq in 2006-07 where he conducted counterinsurgency operations.
Peterson said he was a proponent for the CAPE mission long before he knew of the center's existence.
"Advancement of the Army Profession and Ethic is an important dimension of every officer's service," he said. "Every officer in every assignment has a professional responsibility to live the Army ethic and develop others to do the same. My past experiences as a combat arms officer and an educator give me an applicable perspective on the Army Profession and prepared me to fulfill the responsibilities of the CAPE director."
The challenge, he said, is to harness everyone's perspective in a way that maintains the Army Profession and Ethic and equips leaders with what they need to educate the next generation of Army leaders.
Army professionalism has been the subject of discourse and debate among senior leaders since the Army Profession campaign's launch in 2010. CAPE published its first report in April, after a yearlong study into the current state of the profession of arms, which included servicewide feedback from thousands of Soldiers and civilians.
"CAPE will use the findings to develop initiatives that enable leaders to design their professional development programs based on their own assessment," Peterson said. "CAPE is a facilitator for Army professional development programs and will support unit efforts based on requests from Army leaders throughout the force. One of our challenges is to ensure the Army Profession does not become just another training requirement in an already overscheduled Army."
To that end, Peterson said the goal of CAPE is to design materials that help leaders meet training objectives efficiently. The MAPET course is one of the ways CAPE is making that happen.
"What CAPE and MAPET give to leaders is time and a framework for helping make sure the Army develops professionals (both military and civilians) who will continue our 237-year legacy of success," Peterson said.
For the first time, the MAPET course will be available later this summer at Fort Knox, Ky., and Fort Benning, Ga.
CAPE also recently relaunched its website and promotes all things related to the Army Profession on its Facebook page.
For news and updates on CAPE and the Army Profession campaign, visit www.cape.army.mil and become a fan on www.facebook.com/USACAPE.
Related Links:
Center for the Army Profession and Ethic
U.S. Army Combined Arms Center
Army Profession completes year of study
CAPE conducts Army Profession training in Korea
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