Perishable Goods

On today's anniversary of the U.S. flag raised at Iwo Jima, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey released a white paper on a pet project of his: the profession of arms. The document's intent, Dempsey wrote in a Defense Department website blog post, is to foster debate on the subjects of trust, leadership and ethics among service members.

“Professionalism and jointness are perishable, they must be cultivated,” Dempsey wrote in the white paper.

In early April, the Army is expected to release a detailed report on the state of the ground service's profession. Unlike the somewhat promotional six-page white paper released today, the upcoming Army report amounts to a detailed survey giving voice to soldiers' attitudes, concerns and expectations.

Indications from earlier versions of the survey are that the service will have to address trust as a weak point in the Army fabric.