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The Army's professional identity is critically important to maintain its legitimacy with the American people and to operate effectively in today's morally ambiguous operational environment. In 2010 the Army embarked on a Campaign of Learning to assess the health and understanding of the Army Profession among its members after nearly a decade of conflict. While the renewed emphasis on the Army Profession raised overall awareness, implementation activities to date have failed to reach the audience and echelon most effective at fostering a professional identity and enduring commitment to the Army Ethic among Army Profession practitioners. Rather than continuing to develop more programs and activities at the strategic level the Army needs to focus on the organizational level, specifically the battalion command teams, as the best source to foster the Army Ethic in Army professionals.

"This thesis examines the moral permissibility of First Sergeant John Hatley's decision to kill, and influence others to kill, four unarmed detainees near Baghdad in the spring of 2007. Ethics is an important topic for all members of the profession of arms. With the seemingly constant news reports of ethical indiscretions by U.S. Army Soldiers, many of them by senior U.S. Army leaders, the need for continued Professional Military Ethics (PME) dialogue within the ranks has become exceedingly clear. This thesis will strive to do more than simply understand what took place next to that Baghdad canal; it will evaluate and analyze the killings. The thesis attempts to answer the following questions: Did First Sergeant Hatley possess an inherent right to defend himself against threats of deadly force?, Was taking care of the detainees his only option for survival?, Could the detainees have been considered imminent threats?, and Was he morally justified in acting preemptively?"--Abstract.

"Understanding the professional military ethic (PME) requires first understanding the conceptual foundations upon which it stands. This foundation includes objective morality, the sociology of professions, professional ethics in general, and the profession of arms. I argue that a genuinely normative professional ethic derives from objective morality through the context of a particular professional role. Any other approach fails to generate genuine normativity. This assertion conflicts with recent accounts of the PME that seek its source in various artifacts of our military culture and society. Moral obligation is a product of individual abilities and relationships. Professional roles generate a common set of abilities and relationships. Morality constrains the professional role, dictating what professionals must do, may do, and may not do for clients. Given similarities in our roles, the PME does not differ substantially across military services or even across nations. Understanding of the PME, however, varies greatly. Any profession's understanding of its ethic is a function of how well that profession has discerned and formally articulated that ethic. Achieving our full professional potential requires that we articulate our ethic. Despite a number of formidable obstacles, we can articulate a functional account of our ethic that is sensitive to the unique demographic characteristics of our profession. I offer a conceptual account of the moral foundations of a professional ethic. I then offer an articulation of our professional ethic, organized around our specific professional roles, and provide commentary on the account to demonstrate its serviceability to the profession."--Abstract.