Quote Originally Posted by Ken White View Post
* They aren't really professional other than in the sense that's what they do for a living. Some of them are Professionals, Doctors and Lawyers. The Armed Forces are not themselves professionals, warfare it is not a profession, it an endeavor and it can be a trade for some or even for many but it isn't a profession any more than playing baseball, basketball or football for a living is a profession. Attempts to make it a 'profession' are in fact a part of the problem this thread discusses. Professions are allowed to have their own rules and to police themselves -- armed forces are not really permitted to do either.
Right, "warfare it is not a profession"; but that is not what we are talking about. We are attempting to define the profession of arms, a group that specializes in the application of lethal force to achieve political ends. Because there are many things a military can do that other non-military organizations can do as well, e.g. build roads, schools, or provide humanitarian relief. However, only the profession of arms speciallizes in the application of lethal force, (and yes, there are exceptions, like police and mercenaries). And there are times when these other groups cannot operate due to security considerations and only the military will do. In these cases, where we require an organization that can build infrastructure while also providing secuirty and conduct combined arms maneuver or counterterrorism, in such cases only the profession of arms will do.

I agree, "warfare it is not a profession". Quoting Gray pg 37, "war is a relationship between beligerants, warfare is the conduct of war", but neither is a profession. War is such dangerous business that we need a profession of arms to maximize our ability to conduct war; that is, rather than warfare as a profession, the profession is expertise in warfare.

The problem is how do we develop, cultivate, standardize, evaluate this expertise. If the military is to provide advice and advocacy to the political leaders, when and how do we learn to do this. Do we learn in any coherent manner or is this largely self taught? If we are to be this profession of arms that is truely the expertise in warfare, how does the profession gain this expertise?