To reinforce the Army profession and its Ethic, the Army Chief of Staff (CSA) established the Army Center of Excellence for the Professional Military Ethic (ACPME) in May 2008. Located at West Point, New York, the wellspring of professional soldier values for more than 200 years, the ACPME was re-designated as the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic (CAPE) and realigned to fall under the command and control of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) and its Combined Arms Center (CAC) in August 2010. CAPE's objectives were to assess the state of Army as a profession and its members as professionals; to study and define through doctrine and strategic messaging the Army Profession; capture and promulgate the moral principles of the Army Ethic (to include Army Values), Army culture, and organizational climates; inspire trusted Army professionals to live up to their sacred oaths, increase Army members’ understanding and internalization of what it means for Soldiers and Army Civilians to be members of an honored profession; accelerate professional and character development in individuals, units, and Army culture through training, education, and leader development. AR 600-100 Army Profession and Leadership specified 12 tasks for CAPE to serve the Army in leader development, critical thinking and ethical decision making based upon the moral principles of the Army Ethic. Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 1 and Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 1. CAPE, as the AR 5-22 Army Force Modernization Proponent for the Army Profession, Character Development, and the Army Ethic was the US Army and lead responsible for Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership and Education, Personnel and Facilities (DOTMLPF) initiatives to reinforce the Army Profession of Arms, Army Ethic, and culture. In September 2019, CAPE was merged with the Center for Army Leadership at Fort Leavenworth, KS to form the Center for the Army Profession and Leadership.[1]
CAPE, on behalf of CG, CAC, serves as the proponent for the Army Profession, the Army Ethic and Character Development of Army Professionals to reinforce Trust within the profession and with the American people.
To reinforce trust within the profession and with the American people: the foundation for successful accomplishment of the Army Mission, consistent with the Army Ethic.
The Center for the Army Profession and Ethic offers many products to help develop Army Professionals. Products include: Videos, Case Studies, Lesson Plans, Training Support Packages, Virtual Simulators, Games, Posters, and more.
The Company We Keep is an interactive video simulation for company commanders and first sergeants. It focuses on the responsibility of the Company Command Team (CCT) members to serve as Stewards for the Profession of Arms by communicating, working as a team, counseling/mentoring within the garrison environment, and inspiring commitment to the Army Profession through daily tasks. The interactive simulation demonstrates how excellence and leadership should be modeled in the areas of training development, property accountability, materiel readiness, and personnel readiness.[2]
Highly Specialized, Highly Committed is a virtual simulation training product that focuses on Army Profession and Ethic concepts and how they relate to the leader/professional development of Soldiers as they transition into the Warrant Officer cohort.[3]
Stewards of the Profession: A Special Trust focuses on the Army Profession and Ethic, along with civil-military relations. The concepts of the profession are applied to Command Climate and Leader Development issues.[4]
Backbone of the Army prepares future soldiers for life in deployed situations and at home station, working through events and dilemmas that will challenge ideas of what it means to be a leader and a steward of the U.S. Army Profession.[5]
In The Future is Now includes an experience at a small private college or large state university life as a first- and second-year cadet. Through multiple playable characters cadets face many college lifestyle situations, which often conflict with the cultural and ethical norms of life as an Army Officer.[6]
Released in 2011, True Faith & Allegiance follows the progress of J.T. Taylor from high school to new soldier. This program gives new Army trainees the opportunity to understand and apply the Army Values to everyday decisions and see how these seemingly small events can have long-lasting repercussions. Ethical decision-making is a skill that improves with practice. True Faith & Allegiance gives practice and confidence in one's ability to make ethical decisions when times are tough.[7]
The High Ground provides real-time, ethical decision choices with appropriate outcomes, verbal feedback and AAR summary designed not only to provide Soldiers with an entertaining, thoughtful experience that stimulates ethical reasoning, but also allows data capture to support ethics research.[8]
The ethics version of the Army game Moral Combat will provide Soldiers with a fun, entertaining experience, further ethical awareness, and intends to stimulate and evolve the moral working self as well as provide a data capture mechanism to support ethics research and moral character development.[9]