Exploring the Complexities of Army Civilians and the Army Profession

Abstract : The U.S. Army is both a military department and a distinctive profession. The Army performs most of its institutional Army responsibilities in the generating force bureaucracies and its landpower missions in the operating force military formations. Further, the Army continues to face substantial U.S. national security challenges in a time of budget instability and with mandates for significant efficiencies garnered from business transformation. Based on a decade of conflict, the Army executives and senior leaders recently established a revamped the Army Profession composed of two main communities of practice: the Profession of Arms and the Army Civilian Corps. Given this setting, the purpose of the paper is to explore the myriad complexities and provide a synthesis regarding Army civilians as part of the changing Army and the Army Profession. The research uses various perspectives, such as how civilians fit in the greater federal civil service, where civilians perform and contribute to the Army, what it means to be professional, what are cultural commonalities and differences, what are professional and bureaucratic leaders, and what cultural implications may exist for the Army in the future.