Accession Number:

ADA590854

Title:

Competence as a Professional Imperative: Does the Army Promote Competence in its Officers?

Descriptive Note:

Master's thesis

Corporate Author:

ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLLEGE FORT LEAVENWORTH KS

Personal Author(s):

• Kirchhoff, Melanie S.

Report Date:

2013-05-22

Pagination or Media Count:

137.0

Abstract:

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the Armys promotion of competence in its officers. To fully address this topic, four important questions must be answered 1 Do established leadership development processes provide accurate tools for identifying competence and incompetence 2 Are those tools used to promote competence 3 Does the Army reward competence in individual officers 4 Is officer incompetence tolerated in the Army, and if so, why and 5 Is Army culture a factor The thesis begins with three case studies of officer competence. The case studies involve an ROTC cadet, a company commander, and a Senior Major who was an instructor in a Professional Military Education PME school. Chapter 2 is a literature review of the Profession of Arms, Army doctrine, the Be Know Do Leadership Model, leadership development in Fortune 500 companies, and Army culture. Chapter 3 reviews the studys methodology. Chapter 4 presents overviews of Professional Military Education PME for officers the Officer Evaluation Report Army counseling, coaching, and mentoring and the Promotion Board Process. This is followed by senior officer interviews and a survey of Majors from the Command and General Staff Officer Course. The results show an overall emphasis on competence in both the Army as an institution and in Army culture. However, three areas for improvement were identified. The Army system for counseling, coaching, and mentoring needs a major overhaul as its effectiveness in promoting competence and restricting incompetence is poor there is dissent on the inclusion of ethical behavior in the definition of competence and interpersonal skills are undervalued as an attribute of competency.

Descriptors:

• *ARMY PERSONNEL
• *ARMY TRAINING
• *CULTURE
• *LEADERSHIP TRAINING
• *OFFICER PERSONNEL
• *PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT
• *SKILLS
• ARMY
• COUNSELING
• EMOTIONS
• ETHICS
• INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS
• MILITARY DOCTRINE
• MILITARY REQUIREMENTS
• PERFORMANCE(HUMAN)
• PROMOTION(ADVANCEMENT)
• SURVEYS
• THESES

Subject Categories:

• Psychology
• Personnel Management and Labor Relations
• Military Forces and Organizations

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE