Trust Erosion and Identity Corrosion: Threats to the Army Profession

Abstract : The United States Army spent the last two years studying and debating what it means to be a profession and what qualifies individuals as professionals. It worked to maintain its professional status as an institution and avoid becoming an obedient government bureaucracy. The critical task that lies ahead, however, requires the Army to identify the future threats to the profession and safeguard against them. This paper tackles that task. It identifies the threats to the Army profession in 2020 and beyond, and makes recommendations to overcome them. As a result of this research, it is clear the primary threats to the Army profession in the next decade are the erosion of trust in the Army by its client, the American people, combined with identity corrosion amongst Army professionals.